Never Parted
by beth51276
Summary: Canon altered after Boom Town. Nine doesn't regenerate and Jack isn't left behind following the Gamestation. Fluff ensues as the Doctor romances his Rose and our favorite Team TARDIS form a family connection.
1. Captain's Log

Nine never regenerates, and Jack manages to stay with his new friends. Because Christopher Eccleston's portrayal of the Ninth Doctor was too _fantastic_ for words, and because Nine never left Rose in doubt of his love for her.

At first, it was fun to do it just to see how he would respond. Flirting with Rose, that is. After all, early on in my travels with The Doctor and Rose, it was plainly obvious that Rose was off limits. Don't dance with her, don't look at her, and if you know what's good for you, don't touch her. He practically radiated the word _"mine"_ and he likely meant that in a more encompassing way than a human man would. My first evening on the TARDIS, I was warned not to touch anything. It didn't take me very long to find out that the only thing I wasn't really allowed to touch was Rose. I couldn't help but smile at them as he danced with her in the console room. I didn't need The Doctor to give me his alpha male stare over Rose's shoulder to know that he was in love with her and would torture me slowly if I so much as made a move on her.

If you had asked me to point out a picture of the word "love", immediately I would have thought of the image of The Doctor, and the way he was looking at Rose when I teleported them aboard my ship. I wasn't kidding. They weren't even aware they had an audience. They were a couple, even if they weren't intimate.

They obviously had a deep intimacy that wasn't of the bodies, even if they were sharing a bed. The Time Lord obviously didn't sleep much, but I wasn't aware of their sleeping arrangements until I heard Rose crying in the middle of the night. I had no roguish intentions at all when I opened the door to Rose's room and was floored at what I saw.

The Doctor was bare chested but wearing pajama bottoms and was sitting nearly straight up in the bed, cradling Rose. The Time Lord's long fingers carded through her hair and his cheek was pressed to the top of her head as he soothed her. Rose never fully stirred from sleep, instinctively twining her leg with one of his. His book had been laid aside, forgotten. Whatever I had been about to say to comfort Rose died on my lips when I blundered my way into her bedroom.

The Doctor shot me a dark look. "Jack..."

"I swear," I whispered, holding up my hands. "I only heard her crying. I had actually thought of getting you, but she sounded so upset." I had even put on a robe and my trousers on.

"As you see, I have the situation in hand."

"How long has _this_ been going on," I asked, waggling my eyebrows, unable to hide a lascivious grin.

He leveled a stormy gaze at me. "It's not what you think. We've been traveling together for some time, and...she recently had a traumatic experience during one of our travels. She's had nightmares. Go back to bed, Jack."

I nodded, not wishing to disturb our newfound camaraderie. He was actually sharing a part of the life he and Rose had led before they rescued me, even if the details weren't there. So I decided to take this as seriously as he did.

"I'm sure you'll take care of her," I added, without a hint of innuendo. Too bad, really. That bed looked big enough for all three of us. But I think I knew from the beginning that I was their friend, a brother even, but The Doctor and Rose always came first with each other.

I believed him when he said it wasn't what it looked like. So they weren't having sex. It didn't mean they weren't lovers. For a guy like me, sex is just for fun. Just because I have sex with them doesn't mean they're my lover. These two really were so sweet. But you had to know that their relationship status had nothing to do with Rose's wishes. The Doctor had to have been a conflicted man. A Time Lord over 900 years old and a 20 year old girl? He probably felt like the dirtiest old man ever. This would not do. The Doctor probably did not know that he would only hurt Rose in the long term by denying her.

So with the exception of the occasional innuendo, I decided to stop flirting with Rose and The Doctor. I decided that it was my mission in life to see them together. We were heading to Cardiff for a refuel, and Rose was going to hook up with Mickey. Things were bound to get interesting.


	2. Rose

I woke up one morning soon after Jack's arrival to find The Doctor still in my bed. His face was gentle but serious as he held out a cup of coffee. With a wry smile he looked at me and said, "Captain Jack ferreted out our sleeping arrangements."

My eyes went wide in astonishment. "How?"

"You were having a nightmare, Rose. I had already come to bed, but had no plans to sleep, so I decided to read. So I was sitting up with a book when you started to thrash around. Harkness didn't even knock, he just came in your bedroom."

Sipping my coffee gratefully, I chuckled. "I imagine that went over like a lead barrage balloon."

"I'll give him credit, Rose. I don't think he had any nefarious intentions. He heard you crying and he was concerned. He had on more clothing than I did. Can't say I'm sorry your new boyfriend found me here, though."

I swatted his leg. "He's _not_ my boyfriend! Just because I danced with him doesn't mean he's my boyfriend."

"Yeah, you danced with me and I'm not your boyfriend."

I knew that tone. For all of my Time Lord's protests, I could practically smell the testosterone. I covered his hand with mine. "No, you're _much_ more important than that." But fearing I had said too much, revealed too much, I smiled cheekily at him. "Not every girl has their own Time Lord teddy bear."

His lips twitched and then he groused, "I am _not_ a teddy bear."

"Perhaps not, Doctor. But this," I gestured to the bed to indicate our sleeping arrangements, "is better than a teddy bear, and it's even better than dancing."

The truth was simply that we had been sleeping together since Utah. I began to realize how much I meant to him. Adam was sleeping the night away and wasn't even aware of the subtle shift that had taken place in my relationship with The Doctor.

Why had I taken off with barely a second thought with this haunted and conflicted man? I could not help being drawn to him. Nothing had ever happened to me until he took my hand in the basement that night. His touch was almost electric, and I felt a wild, gleeful abandon on the occasions we held hands as we ran like the wind.

In spite of being a bit traumatized by our trip to the end of the world, it didn't take me long to realize why The Doctor had chosen that particular destination. He didn't just need someone to run with. He needed someone to share his battered, lonely soul with. He wanted me to have a very small point of reference. By seeing my own world burn, he had given me a glimpse of his inner conflict at seeing his own world burn. That's why I didn't hesitate to stay with him. I also instinctively knew that in spite of the fact that he was dangerous, that he would never hurt me. I wouldn't be the first girl to find danger thrilling.

But our bond continued to grow. But it wasn't until Utah and the Dalek that he came to my bedroom. I think he wanted to make sure I was still here. I was sitting in my bed, reading a book when I heard him knock. I had never seen him without his usual clothing. But he was completely covered all the same. I could tell he didn't want me to misinterpret his appearance. His face was etched with torment as he dropped to his knees beside me.

He was choking back harsh sobs as he buried his head in my lap. "I almost lost you, Rose. I thought you were dead."

_"I could save the world but lose you." _No man has ever looked at me like I'm the only woman in existence. No one but him.

He looked up at me with his beautiful, steel-blue eyes. I stroked his hair and soothed him. I wanted to be nurturing, but truthfully, I would have done anything he wanted. At that moment, it didn't matter that he looked 40, was almost immortal, and was an alien. I had to tamp down the first flickers of a flame in my belly when his eyes met mine.

So I scooted to the side on my bed, drawing my covers up to my chest so he would know I hadn't misinterpreted his intentions and held my arms out to him. He only hesitated for a moment before he did something he had never done before. He cradled my face with one hand and kissed both of my eyelids. Then he curled up next to me and slept. The Time Lord sleeps. At least this one did that night. To tell the truth, I needed the comfort, too. I was frightened for both of us. Frightened for our lives, and frightened for him when I saw the soldier of the Time War with the gun in his hands. If this helped restore some balance in both of us, it was not a sacrifice. After all, we hugged and held hands all the time. Besides, having no hesitations about sharing a bed made things easier in more practical situations.

I smiled at him this morning. I knew he was jealous of Jack. I wasn't too thrilled with Jack at the moment he teleported us. We were so close to a breakthrough at that moment. As he stepped closer to me, his gaze was smoldering and I couldn't stop the tug I felt in my belly.

The Doctor wasn't "pretty", but he was a beautiful man. He made jokes about his ears and his nose, but the complete picture was gorgeous. He had high cheekbones, a beautifully shaped mouth, and his unfathomably gorgeous eyes were ones I never wanted to stop seeing every day. Jack chose that moment to interrupt us. I had to stifle a groan of frustration and refrain from stamping my foot. The dances we shared in the TARDIS later on were more light-hearted, far less intimate than that moment in the hospital.

Reassured that I was still his "plus one" and always would be, he headed for his bedroom to dress for the day, muttering about the never ending tinkering that he did on the TARDIS. We were heading to Cardiff for a refuel and I called Mickey. Maybe a little distance during a trip home would help with feelings that I was having a harder time concealing with each passing day.

I was already dressed and on my way to the kitchen when I ran into Jack and I wondered what he was about. There wasn't even a hint of a leer as he greeted me with a smile, even in the wake of running into one sexy, bare-chested Time Lord in my bedroom in the middle of the night.


	3. The Doctor

She managed to bring home another one. I had narrowly avoided bringing Rickey on board the TARDIS (what possessed me to ever ask in the first place?), and we had easily discarded of that snake in the grass after Satellite Five. But this one, despite his over-the-top roguish demeanor and movie idol good looks was just too much. So far, he hadn't so much as touched Rose.

The worst part is that I actually rather like him. In spite of causing that mess during the Blitz, he proved himself to be brave. He saved Rose, even if he did have to ingratiate himself with her. I think he really cares about her. Not really in a carnal way, although I doubt that intergalactic Lothario would be at opposed at sharing a bed with her occasionally. But then, he's not particular. He's even expressed some interest in me. Let me know when the Slitheen clan takes up yoga. He's not an idiot like Rickey and he's not a sniveling fool like Adam Mitchell. No, Jack Harkness sees right through me. He knows about Rose. Surprisingly enough, I think he understands.

Sometimes I am so angry at myself. Rose is so vibrant, beautiful, young. Between her harpy of a mother and her boyfriend that was never her equal, it stood to reason that she would find our life exciting. It was love at first sight. She was brave, and didn't hesitate to save my life. She's saved me in ways I'm only beginning to learn about. Is it fair for me to stake an unspoken claim? I know that I am possessive of her, protective of her. I think of her as mine, even though I've yet to claim her body. I wonder if she knows I absolutely belong to her.

I wasn't about to admit to Captain Jack that I was the first one to seek out comfort in the night. The business in Utah had unleashed a monster, a monster that I was so afraid I was going to lose Rose to. A monster that wasn't a bloody Dalek, but me. I had thought she was dead. My anger was already boiling over, and I couldn't contain my temper. Then I saw the look on Rose's face when she told me she wouldn't let me kill the Dalek. She asked me what I was changing into.

I had frightened her. So I clung to her fiercely. The first time I buried my head in her lap I wanted to lift up her top and kiss her belly, bare skin to make sure she was really there. I knew she would have given me anything I wanted, even then. But I managed to keep things platonic. But I wanted more...want more. I can't stand the thought of sleeping without her. I spend more time in a bedroom at night than I ever have because I can be with her, watch over her while she sleeps. Sometimes I am astounded at the unmitigated joy I feel with her in my arms at night. Sometimes I don't even wait for her to have a nightmare. I gather her in my arms and stroke her hair. I lose myself in her scent. I tell myself that I am comforting her, because our life is dangerous. We spend so much time running and scurrying for our lives and she needs the catharsis.

Ultimately, we need each other. She loves her mum, naturally. But Jackie will never be able to provide her with what she needs. Rickey certainly won't. All we have is each other. Now, due to no design of my own, we have Jack. I like to glower at him when he's admiring Rose too much, but he's our friend. Deep down, I know that he's honorable enough to respect the boundaries where she's concerned.

I have to admit that I'm not a bit sorry Jack knows about the sleeping arrangements. That only ensures that I'm far less worried about him where Rose is concerned. I'd frankly like to let all of them know that she sleeps in my arms at night. A bit misleading, but pure truth.

Jack was waiting for me this morning after I had brought Rose some coffee. He was silent for a short while, and then swiftly cut to the chase.

"Doctor, you have to take that big step forward."

I didn't even pretend to mistake his meaning. "It's not your business."

"Maybe not yet. But I see the three of us having a special connection, having the potential to have many adventures together. But the sexual tension here is thick enough to cut with a knife, and I mean that in the kindest way. You risk hurting Rose by not crossing that line, Doctor. You risk her heart."

"Jack, let's suppose I was Human. That I was of her time and culture. That I'm not a killer. Even still, I would look at least 20 years her senior, and she's extremely beautiful."

Jack shook his head at me in disbelief. "If she cared about you being an alien, she would never have come with you in the first place. You have brought her into many times and many cultures. If you had to kill, it was because there was no other option, Doctor. That's why you were so thrilled during the Blitz- because you could perform an act of preserving life and no one got hurt or killed."

"Precisely."

"Doctor, I'm going to tell you something from Rose's perspective. She knows all of that about you. She knows a lot more about you than I do, and she still trusts you with her life every day, and sleeps in your arms at night. As for your apparent age, she is extremely attracted to you."

"I've not a clue why."

"Okay, I'm a flexible guy," grinned Jack.

I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help chuckling.

"This is what the ladies see, Doctor. They see all of you. You're always talking about pretty boys where Rose is concerned. I think her eyes are only for you. The ladies see a ruggedly sexy man at the height of his looks."

"I wish it were so simple, Jack."

Jack shook his head at me. "It is that simple. She loves you fiercely. She would rather die than leave you behind. You are first and foremost in her life, ahead of everyone else. I know that you're in love with her."

Jack left me to finish my coffee. He was right. I'm in love with her. I've loved her since I first grabbed her hand and told her to run. I've desired her physically since I saw her swing back towards me on that chain when she saved me. She was this brave, beautiful star who didn't hesitate to look for a solution. That was the first time I held her in my arms. She was fantastic. Rickey, on the other hand, was cowering in front of the TARDIS.

I'd rather die than see any harm come to her. I'm a coward. I find solace in her bed, but won't give myself to her completely. I want all of her. She has every other part of me. But the coward in me won't let me claim her.


	4. Boom Town

_Jack_

It was a chaotic stop in Cardiff for refueling. We were all shaken by what had happened. The business with the rift, and the fact that Blon nearly killed Rose had the three of us in shock. I think this trip was a disaster to start with.

Apparently Rose had called up her boyfriend Mickey to meet up with us in Cardiff. I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't that. I guess he was nice enough, but I don't know how he thought he had any hopes of competing with The Doctor. From what I gathered, Rose had left Mickey alone in the street one night after having her first adventure with the Time Lord. She didn't pack a bag, and Mickey was the only one who knew where she had gone. He showed up at the TARDIS soon after we materialized and the first thing I noticed was that The Doctor had a history of antagonizing Mickey. Still, I caught the look on his face, his mask slipping into place as he watched Rose embrace Mickey. I doubt this guy had a clue about the sleeping arrangements on board.

Rose had probably outgrown him before she boarded the TARDIS, but it was glaringly obvious as we were enthusiastically describing how the closed rift would refuel the TARDIS for our next journey. Mickey looked like someone had hit him in the gut when he realized Rose wasn't home to stay. This guy was like a dog begging for scraps from the table. He didn't realize that fate had created the hand of Rose Tyler to perfectly fit in the palm of one man...her Doctor. It had been months since she'd seen Mickey, and yet she leapt ahead of them to The Doctor, to hold his hand and lean against his shoulder as they went out that afternoon.

I don't know how we ended up this way. I think it was just seeing Rose nearly killed, the fact she was upset over Mickey, and a near-miss where the rift was concerned. I had almost forgotten the Doctor was unusually tight-jawed when he saw Rose and Mickey steal away from the TARDIS, holding hands. She wasn't gone long, and I'm glad I didn't have to see my friend become unhinged at the thought of her sleeping with another man. Instead I watched the Storm rise as he hid his terror for Rose while she was in Blon's clutches. Then the TARDIS took care of everything for us.

We took took off, but there had clearly been something wrong with Rose when she came running back. Apparently, things were over with for real in terms of Mickey. Concerned for Rose, I told The Doctor I was going to go look for her. I found her alright, drowning her sorrows in the library with my stash of hypervodka.

She looked amazingly young and vulnerable, tear-tracks still running down her cheeks. She looked at me and hurled herself at me, starting to cry. She was choking back her sobs.

I reached over next to the door and pressed a button for the console room, knowing that the Doctor would hear her cries. I held Rose like I would a sister...how amazing is that? I wanted him to know where Rose was, so I just stroked her hair and asked her, "Why are you in the library by yourself?"

_Mickey_

Maybe The Doctor is right. I'm an idiot. I came running to Rose in Cardiff like a stupid lovesick puppy. I blew off some steam by yelling at Captain Pervert, but my anger is not directed at the right person. Rose didn't run off with Harkness. She ran off with _him_.

I don't understand. She wants to live her life with an alien who constantly rescues her because she's always in danger because of _him_. She left her mum, she left me all because of _him_.

I'm not as ignorant as they think I am. Why else would this Jack guy, who shags anything with a pulse, come around and not so much as look at a beautiful girl like Rose with anything other than friendship? I know it has to do with The Doctor. All of it does. He thinks I don't see the way he looks at Rose when he thinks no one else is watching. Jackie's seen it, and she's only been around him a couple of times.

She hadn't seen me in months, but when we set out for lunch, she ran ahead of me and clasped hands with the Doctor, leaning on his shoulder playfully while she walked. And that's the problem.

She'll always pick his hand over mine. It doesn't matter that he looks like a middle-aged man, isn't even human, and isn't much to look at. I can hold my hand out to her, but as long as the Doctor extends his hand out to Rose, she'll always choose his hand over mine.


	5. Tears and Confessions

Jack Harkness might have been quite flexible with his favors, and had no interest in any sort of monogamy or settling down, but it didn't mean he was an insensitive prat. He had a pretty fair idea of why Rose was hysterical, and the reasons were numerous.

"Rose, this can't all be over Mickey."

"I'm ashamed of myself," she choked. "We've known each other since we were practically in nappies together."

Jack stroked her hair affectionately. "Rose, you've had a long day. You had an ugly breakup with one of your closest childhood friends, Blon almost murdered you, and the TARDIS was nearly destroyed."

"He deserved better, Jack. I just left him for a year, you know. Gave him a dry peck on the cheek and ran for the TARDIS and left with an alien man I had barely known for 24 hours. I didn't even blink after Downing Street. I just packed my things without a second glance and left with The Doctor again. We've been gone all these months and I hardly thought of him at all until we were planning to stop in Cardiff."

"Rose, you've outgrown him. What sort of things do you have in common with him now? Besides, aren't you in love with The Doctor?"

Rose screwed her eyes shut and shook her head. "Don't want to talk about it. It doesn't help." Her mood swung wildly as grabbed Jack's hands. "Dance with me, Captain Jack. Show a girl a good time."

For once in his life, Jack found himself shifting uncomfortably while a beautiful woman twined her arms around him. The last thing he wanted was to have the Oncoming Scowl directed at him because he had crossed the line. "Rose, you know that you don't really want to dance with me."

"Don't mean _dancing_, Jack. Just a dance, that's all."

"It's a good thing you don't mean _dancing_, Rose," replied Jack merrily. "You know that he would torture me slowly for suggesting it."

Thinking about The Doctor, Rose started to cry harder. "I didn't really want to go to a hotel with Mickey, Jack. Mickey was right about one thing. It will always be The Doctor. Mickey knows I'll never leave him. I'm just glad it didn't come to having to hurt him that way, too. I don't want another man in my bed. I want the man in my bed to love me, Jack."

Jack tilted Rose's head up so she could look at him. "Something has to give with you two, Rose. If you think for a moment that the man in your bed doesn't love you..."

"I know he loves me, Jack," Rose cut him off. "But does he _want_ me?"

Before Jack could respond, he caught a very pained looking Doctor out of the corner of his eye. "She's been down here drinking."

"Obviously," he replied dryly.

The Doctor practically untangled Rose from Jack's embrace and led her over to the sofa. "How much have you had, Rose?"

"Four. Five. Don't remember. My neck doesn't hurt anymore." Rose giggled and threw her arms around the Time Lord. "Jack won't dance with me, Doctor. Don't really want him to, you know. He's nice and all, but I want to do _all_ of my dancing with you." Rose burrowed contentedly underneath his jacket, practically purring as she rubbed her face on his jumper.

Jack started to laugh softly because one of the most powerful beings in the universe was blushing. "How long were you standing there, Doctor?"

"Long enough, Jack."

"Then you know you need to talk," Jack whispered.

The Doctor shook his head. "I'll take it from here, Jack." He stood up from the sofa and swept Rose into his arms, "To bed with you."

Rose started to giggle at this. "Mmm, Jack. The Doctor's taking me to bed."

Jack just stood there in the doorway as The Doctor carried Rose down the corridor. He smiled and shook his head. "When are they going to get on with it already?"

The Doctor was in a quandary. He was having a distinctly difficult time fighting his body's natural response as he approached Rose's bedroom. His self control was wearing thin. Between Blon nearly killing Rose, Mickey wanting to shack up at a hotel with her, and hearing Rose practically confess her love for him to Jack, his instinctive possessive nature was at the forefront.

He removed her bathrobe and helped her into bed. He had decided he was going to leave for awhile when Rose patted the bed. "You're not getting off that easy."

"You're out of your head, Rose. We can talk about anything you want tomorrow."

"I'm not that drunk. Just tipsy enough to be honest. Come on and get in bed with me. I want to tell you some things."

"Rose," he faltered. "I don't know if this is"

"A good idea, Doctor?" Rose started to sniffle. "I didn't really want to spend the night with Mickey, you know. It would have been mean since I planned to leave again right away."

The Doctor couldn't hide the hurt in his eyes as he laid down beside Rose. "Why did you agree to go, then?"

"I'm frustrated, Doctor! Every night, you come to bed with me. You look so good and you smell so good, and your bare chest feels so good underneath my cheek, and I don't think I can sleep without you anymore!"

"You said you weren't that drunk. Now you're telling me I look good."

"Mhm. Not a pretty boy. Masculine. Sensual. And your eyes, Doctor." Rose pressed her body against his. "I want you," she whispered.

Lacing his fingers with hers, he sighed. "Do you think I don't want you?"

"I don't know...all these months in the same bed and not so much as a kiss. It doesn't make a woman feel desired. Then sometimes you gaze at me and I think you do want me. Like when Jack teleported us. I said it didn't feel like dancing. That's because it felt like foreplay, Doctor. Your eyes should be illegal outside of the bedroom."

His gaze turned into a full-on smolder in the dimmed lighting.

"That look! When you look at me like that, I feel like you want me, but you're holding back."

The Doctor swiftly turned to his side and did something he had never done before. He pressed the entire length of his body against hers and his voice came out a hoarse whisper. "I do want you, so much that I'm terrified."

Rose stroked him along his jawline. "Terrified of what? And don't tell me you think you're too old for me, Doctor. I've already told you how sexy I think you are."

"I'm an alien."

"I knew that when I decided to come with you. Believe it or not, you're less alien to me than Jack is."

"I've destroyed planets. I've committed atrocities you don't even know about."

"I know you've done some terrible things. But I also know that you're a man who always looks at his choices and does the least terrible thing he possibly can. You would never have been driven to do the things you did if there had been a better way. That's why I'm here with you now. You always try to find a better way."

"You're so young, Rose. There are things I can't give you."

"If I wanted domestic, Doctor, I'd have stayed behind with Mickey. I'll always choose you over anyone else. Even my mum. Why do you think I went with you, Doctor? My life didn't begin until that night in the basement."

"Rose," he whispered. "A relationship with me is a permanent thing. I'd not be able to let you go."

"Good. I already compare other men to you and they all fall short."

He cradled her face in his hands. "You would be mine, Rose. I don't share."

Rose gave him her trademark smile. "I don't share, either. I'm never leaving you, Doctor. You would have to force me to go. Besides, you already glower at every man that looks at me. Jack won't even so much as share a dance with me. And don't scowl. I'm talking about regular dancing, to music."

"I want you, Rose. Don't doubt that. This is a line I've never crossed, though."

"What are you waiting for then?"

He threw his head back and laughed. "For one, I want you to be completely sober. I have some things I want to tell you, share with you. Not to mention I don't want a minute of our first night together to be a fuzzy memory."

"You still think you're so impressive!"

"I _am_ so impressive!"

"And one of these days you'll prove it to me, won't you?" Rose grinned at him wildly. She loved their shared history.

"I still don't see how you could want a broken old man like me," sighed the Time Lord.

"It's like this, My Doctor. The man who has showed me the universe has become my world."

He lightly pressed his lips to hers, as a promise. "My Rose."


	6. A Disaster Averted

The Doctor had never seen anything more beautiful or more enthralling. Yet this beautiful sight had evinced a raw terror that he had never experienced in all of his 900 years.

It was Rose, returned to him. A golden goddess come to save him, as if she hadn't already saved him. He should have known that she wouldn't accept his decision lying down, that she would go to any length to come back to him. He just never viewed what she actually did as a possibility.

"I want you safe. My Doctor. Protected from the false god." Tears streamed down her face and he realized that it was Rose telling him that she wanted him safe, alive, protected.

He was stunned as she swiftly disintegrated every last Dalek, even their emperor. He realized that she had suffered from their separation as much as he had, that she loved him too much to leave him behind. He had been angry, not at her, but at the unfairness of everything. As he stood on the precipice of happiness, Gamestation happened.

Now she had returned. But the power would surely kill her.

"Rose, you've done it. Now stop. Just let go." He couldn't bear to see her die.

"How can I let go of this? I bring life."

To his horror, he realized at that moment that she had resurrected Jack.

"But this is wrong," he cried. "You can't control life and death."

"I can see everything. All that is, all that was, all that ever could be."

He knew that he would have to pull the vortex energy from Rose himself, and in doing so, would regenerate. He rose in order to do what he would have to do next.

As he reached for Rose, he began to panic as he ran into a barrier. He couldn't touch her. She was going to die and it was his fault. His heart lurched in terror. Not now. Not when he loved her, not when he knew how much she loved him. Not when he knew she had defied time, space, his desperate will to save her, and had risked her life to rescue him.

And then, her body began to be surrounded by the golden glow again, in much the same way as when she exited the TARDIS, and he watched as the vortex was absorbed back into the ship. It disappeared into the ship in the same swirl of glimmer and light.

He saw her eyes, once again their normal golden brown shade before they started to close. Scrambling forward to break her fall, he held her tightly and gently lowered her body to the ground. He sat down and held her in his arms, kissing her cheeks and forehead, stroking her hair. He began to weep in shock over what she had done.

"Rose," he sobbed. "I'll never understand why I'm worth it for you. I only wanted to protect you."

She began to stir in his arms. In the faintest whisper, she called for him, "Doctor."

At this, he couldn't stifle a long shuddering cry of joy. "Rose!"

"I had to come back," she murmured. "I couldn't let you give up on yourself. The thought of never seeing you again..." Her head lolled back in exhaustion as she lost consciousness once again.

The Doctor was terrified for a moment, but then realized she had just fainted. Before he could get up, he was thunderstruck by the appearance of Jack Harkness. Knowing that Rose had revived him was one thing, seeing him was quite another.

"Doctor, what happened?"

He swallowed back his instinct to flinch at the man who had become his friend and shook his head. "Rose happened." The Doctor laid Rose on the floor and rose to his feet, then swiftly bent down and picked Rose up in his arms. "We have to get out of here. I don't know what sort of medical attention she's going to need and I have to get her to the infirmary."

Jack was utterly confused by this turn of events, but just nodded quickly. He didn't understand what had happened, but for now accepted that the three of them were leaving this place.

Upon entering the TARDIS, the lights began to shimmer erratically in protest. Knowing that the ship was protesting to Jack, the Doctor merely said, "I need him. So does Rose." He laid Rose on the jump seat, turning to the controls.

He swiftly closed the console and started to manipulate the switches to take them into the vortex. Then he wordlessly picked Rose up once again and headed to the infirmary, an incredulous Jack following in his wake.

Jack knew something was wrong. He was just biding his time because he knew there was no dragging the Time Lord into a conversation as long as he was so worried about Rose.

It was two more days before she finally woke up. The Doctor had neither slept, nor ate as he kept vigil at her bedside.

"Doctor," she whispered.

A cool hand clasped hers. "I'm here, Rose." Her eyes opened, as though she was making sure he was really there. His blue eyes brimmed over with love and concern as a tear slid down her cheek. "You sent me away."

His long fingers traced the lines of her face. "I wanted to protect you, Rose. We were all going to die, and the only person I cared about saving was you."

Rose's eyebrows wrinkled in confusion. "I don't understand. How did you come back?"

"You came back for me, Rose."

"I remember Mickey trying to help me with the TARDIS. Then Mum came with a truck and we managed to open up the TARDIS. I don't remember anything else after that."

The Doctor shook his head, "My stubborn, clever girl. You don't have to remember today. I'm just relieved you're alright."

Later that night, he carried Rose to her bedroom and helped her bathe. As he settled her in bed, she grabbed his arm. "Don't leave."

"I'll be back, I promise. I want to clean up, and then I'm going to set coordinates so we can go visit your Mum," he replied.

A brief look of panic crossed her features. "You're taking me home?"

A brief smile touched his lips. "Just for a visit. Just so your mum knows you're okay."

Rose was still too exhausted to ponder this for very long and her eyes drooped shut as sleep took over.

A freshly showered and shaved Time Lord joined her a short time later. When he laid down, he drew her possessively in his arms, tangling his fingers through the blonde tresses he had carefully combed and dried. Holding her more closely than he had ever held her before, his heart surrendered to his mind. In the end, he couldn't protect her by sending her away, so he made another promise. He laid a kiss on her forehead and tears began to well up at the thought of the fate they had so narrowly avoided. As sleep finally claimed him for the first time in days, one last thought crossed his mind.

"You're _mine_, and I'm never letting you go again."


	7. Inevitable

Jack Harkness studied their new surroundings on the monitor once the TARDIS had dematerialized. It was a dingy place, marked with graffiti that never managed to be cleaned up or painted over. Jack smiled wistfully as he realized how special Rose truly was. "No wonder she wanted to leave this depressing place," he thought. "No wonder The Doctor wanted to take her away from it."

Jack started to head for the galley to grab some cereal but was hit with déjà vu as he heard an insistent knock on the door of the TARDIS. "_Mickey_," he thought. Shaking his head, he opened the door and said, "What the hell do you want?"

"What the hell do you _think_ I want, Captain Libido," yelled Mickey. "Her mum and I sent her off 200,000 years into the future so she could try and save The Doctor, even though he sent her home because she wasn't safe. I want to know how she's doing."

"She's asleep, Mickey."

"Well, where's The Doctor? He can tell me if she's alright."

A wicked grin spread out over Jack's face. "_He's_ asleep."

Anger flashed in Mickey's eyes. "That's low, even for a pervert Yank like yourself."

"Yank? I'm not even from Earth."

Mickey shoved Jack aside, barreling into the TARDIS. "Doesn't matter. You sound like a bloody American. Now you're trying to tell me that Rose is shagging The Doctor."

Jack broke out into uproarious laughter. "I thought I was the pervert here, Mickey Mouse. I never said they were shagging. I only said they were asleep."

"I know what you meant. I'm not an idiot, regardless of what The Doctor thinks."

"I get that, Mickey. But you have just acted like a jealous boyfriend, and according to Rose, you're not even that anymore."

Mickey shook his head. "Of course I'm jealous! He stole my girl from me! Whisked her off in his magic box and didn't bring her home for a year. How do you think I felt when she told me that me and her Mum didn't matter anymore, that there was nothing left here for her without him?"

Jack sighed and sat on the jump seat. "Mickey, you need to let this go. I'm going to do you a favor and give you a piece of advice. Don't even try to come between them. You can't. I don't have the history of knowing Rose as well as you do, so I'm giving you my first impression of them as a stranger. You'll never convince Rose to come home, Mickey."

Mickey fumed once again. It had been a bitter pill for him to swallow, the things Rose had said to him before she left. "And you know this because _you're_ such an expert on what makes true love, Jack?"

"I just know they're inevitable, Mickey. Don't you know that?"

Mickey's eyes flashed for a moment and then he smirked. "If that's the case, why did she agree to go to a hotel with me in Cardiff?"

Jack chuckled, shaking his head. He really didn't have anything against Mickey, but this guy was like a dog with a bone. "Do you think he didn't know about that? I think he would have come after her, Mickey. I hadn't been on this ship five minutes before I was basically told 'Welcome to the TARDIS, don't even think about it.'"

"I still don't like it."

"No one said you have to like it. But you might as well accept it. He loves her, and he proved it without a doubt when he sent her home."

"Yeah, and I guess she proved how she felt about him when she came back and didn't rest until she found a way back to him."

"I don't know exactly what happened. Rose was unconscious for two days before she woke up last night. The Doctor hasn't left her side since Gamestation."

"Two days," thundered Mickey. "She needs to go to a hospital and that alien of hers keeps her here?" He started to head off towards a corridor, but Jack held him off.

"Do you think that there's anything that a 21st century hospital can do for her that The Doctor can't?"

"Hell if I know, Jack. I don't know what he knows about humans."

"Likely a lot more than you do, Mickey. He would never allow anything to happen to Rose. You didn't see the look on his face when he found out about Rose being kidnapped by a fleet of Daleks. I've seen a lot of things, but he was the scariest thing I've ever seen in my life. You don't want to be on the receiving end of it, believe me."

Mickey sighed in resignation. "Look, mate, I just want to see her. Her mum was scared to death, but she helped her go back anyway. Besides, if she's alright, I can prepare her mum when she comes home from wherever she's gone off to. She's not here and didn't hear the TARDIS. Rose and I have known each other since we were kids."

"She told me that in Cardiff, you know. Don't think this has been easy for her. She felt terrible about your row in Cardiff. I'll see if The Doctor's awake. He sleeps a lot less than either of us do, not being Human and all." Jack headed out of the console room towards Rose's bedroom.


	8. Interrupted

As it happened, Rose actually woke up first. The Doctor woke up and found her out of bed, but it was still quite warm where she had been lying. He heard running water, and then a pause. He leapt out of bed when he saw the door to her bathroom open. "Rose, you're supposed to be in bed."

"I'm not an invalid. I feel much better now, Doctor." Rose waved away his offered assistance as she made her way back to the bed. "See? Not at all wobbly."

She patted the bed. "Come back to bed. I was too tired to talk last night."

He threw up his hands in mock defeat and climbed back in bed next to his human girl. Rose scooted and pressed her body against his side, resting her head on his chest. "Closer," she sighed, "So I can make sure you're really here."

"You are so stubborn, Rose. You could have easily died, you know."

"But I didn't, Doctor. Neither did you. You would have if I hadn't come back, though."

"Yes," he conceded, "that's true. But I was prepared to do so if it meant you were safe."

Rose looked up at him, raising her head off his chest to look at him. "Then you know how I felt. Are you going to tell me everything that happened?"

"Of course I will. But I still want to run some tests on you after you've rested some more. I need to make sure you're going to be well, Rose."

"Yes, Doctor." But then she leaned upwards and buried her face in his neck and started to plant soft, tender kisses there, and gradually behind his ear. He felt her smile against his neck because she knew he couldn't control his body's response to her ministrations.

"Rose..."

"No, not stopping. We're alive, there's no villains to defeat, no planets to save. It's time you snogged me properly, Time Lord."

When her kisses started to turn more insistent, a soft growl emerged from his throat and he finally raised up, rolling her underneath him. He couldn't help grinning at her as his right hand caressed her cheek, sliding down to her collarbone. "I'll show you properly," he replied huskily, and then his lips collided with hers.

This kiss was not tentative like the last one they shared. It was filled with desperation and passion, a frantic effort to make sure the worst had not happened. They were still together. He drew back for a moment, partly because he knew she needed to breathe, and partly because he wanted to see her face. He needed to see that she felt the same way.

Rose smiled at her Doctor and traced his lips with her finger. "If that's what the snogging is like, I can hardly wait to see the d..."

Tightening his hold on her, The Doctor once again began to devour her lips with his own. He had no memory of ever desiring a woman of any species as much as he wanted her. Kissing alone was not enough to release nearly a year's worth of passion and longing. At that moment, he knew Rose must have felt the same way because he felt her arch her body up towards his.

Rose had never felt this way with any man before. His kiss was driving all rational thoughts away, save one. She was sorry she had ever teased him that night in the hospital storage room. He was beautiful, as she had nearly always known he was. In spite of the scars he carried, he was beautiful on the inside as well. She had known that there would be no life for her, not without him. She almost melted right on the mattress when he slipped his hands underneath her cami.

And then a knock. A rather insistent one. They broke away from each other, panting. A voice from the other side of Rose's door.

"Rose? Doctor? Are you awake?"

Foreheads nearly touching, their eyes widened and they whispered simultaneously. "Jack!"

The Doctor rolled away from Rose onto his back, swallowing hard to regain some control. Finally, he pulled the covers over them and called out. "It's alright, Jack."

Jack opened the door and knew at once he had interrupted something. He felt bad for a split second, but then the real Jack surfaced and couldn't avoid a tease. "And you guys were going to start without me."

The Doctor rolled his eyes, but in the end couldn't hold back a swift grin, having been well and truly caught. "What is it, Jack?"

Jack grew a bit serious. "It's Mickey. He's here and wants to know about Rose."

The Doctor rolled his eyes again, but with much more annoyance this time. "Mickey the Idiot. I should have known."

"It's alright, Doctor," said Rose. "I'll see him. I just need to get dressed, is all."

"You'll do no such thing," he asserted. "You still need to rest, I still need to run those tests, and I am going to make you breakfast."

He turned to Jack. "Jack, could you wait outside a moment? I want to speak with you."

"Sure thing, Doctor." Jack closed the door, and the couple was once again alone.

"I'm not a china doll, Doctor," she protested. "I'm not going to break." She threw him a sultry grin. "You certainly didn't think I was going to break a few minutes ago."

"I was getting ahead of myself, Rose. I do want to make sure you're okay first. I just.."

"Couldn't help yourself?"

"No, I couldn't," he admitted. "You have a way of doing that to me, you know. Now I'm actually going to do the _domestic_ thing and make you breakfast."

"Well, you could just ignore that it's domestic. After all, my Doctor is supposed to look after me."

The Doctor smiled and nodded his head in agreement. "Yes, he is. Now we'll get you in your robe, and you can prop up so Rickey can come see you."

A moment later, he joined Jack in the hall. Jack was thunderstruck at his next words. "I want you to stay with Rose."

"In her room?"

The Doctor sighed, knowing that he had been nearly insane with jealousy when he had first met Jack Harkness, but he had come to trust him. He had yet to tell Jack how Gamestation had irrevocably changed things for him, but the experience was now a tight bond between the three of them. "Jack, I know she's safe with you. Frankly, the last time she saw Mickey, she came back in tears and then proceeded to hit the hypervodka. I do not want her upset for any reason, and I definitely don't want Mickey making things stressful for her."

Jack nodded in agreement. "He's pretty sore, Doctor. I think he's in denial. There's also the fact that Rose cut him pretty deep before she came back to Gamestation. She made it clear to him that she couldn't live without you. He thinks you stole his girl from him."

"Maybe I did," he muttered. "But that doesn't matter now. All that matters is Rose. Mickey can visit her, but I don't want him upsetting her in the slightest." The two men looked at each other, making a silent pact.


	9. Truth and Regeneration

"That was awkward," sighed Rose. "But I'm proud of you." Mickey and Jack had left and the Doctor had kicked his boots off and was sitting behind Rose in her bed, with his arms wrapped around her waist.

"For what?"

"You know exactly what, Doctor. I think you actually sat down in the same room with Mickey and didn't work overtime to wind him up."

"Ah. There's two reasons for that, Rose." He picked up her hairbrush from her nightstand and began to gently pull it through her hair.

Rose closed her eyes in bliss. She loved it when he played with her hair. Brushing it, running his fingers through it. She sighed when she thought of him washing it for her last night.

"What are those reasons, Doctor?"

"Number one, I didn't want him upsetting you. Jack spoke to him before he came to see you and he warned me that Mickey was angry about things that had been said before you came back to Gamestation."

Rose bent her head in shame. "What I said wasn't exactly the nicest thing you could say to someone you've known all your life. Maybe I shouldn't have fallen into a comfortable relationship with him. But you saw without a doubt that we've known each other all our lives."

"I know you had been best friends," he replied softly. He laid the hairbrush aside and shifted her hair to the left side of her neck, and then bent down and kissed her right shoulder.

Rose's breath quickened at the sensation of his lips on her bare skin. "And then you came and instantly took his place, Doctor. As my best friend, and taking a place in my heart that he would never have."

"Which is the other reason I didn't antagonize him any further, Rose. I'm not always an insensitive prat. I know he hates me, and I thought that if he had taken you from me, I would hate him just as much."

Rose shifted in his embrace and turned around to face him. "He couldn't do that. I think things were really over with him the moment I agreed to come with you." She reached up to touch his face, and unflinchingly met those intense blue eyes. "I need to tell you, Doctor. Before any more zombies, Daleks, or even bitchy trampolines- before we set out again and find more trouble. I love you, Doctor."

The Doctor's eyes darkened with passion at her confession. She had never said it outright to him, but he knew. Still, hearing it made his entire being leap with joy. The unconditional trust she had always offered him, combined with her loyalty and love was an impossible combination to resist. This impossibly young, vibrant woman had stopped so much of the self-loathing, had stoked his desire to live again. She had healed him of so much, and he had found escape from his nightmares in her embrace. She had given him everything, and in his view had so little with which to offer her in return. But he was willing to give her the only thing he had to give.

He allowed his love for her to radiate from both his gaze and his gentle touch. "I love you, Rose Tyler. I would tear apart universes to keep you at my side."

Rose's eyes filled with tears at finally hearing his beautiful voice say the words. She had known he loved her since Downing Street. She had started to fall in love with him, too. This brilliant, crazy, beautiful alien man loved her. Both of them started to laugh.

"So, now that I have a clean bill of health, when are we going to go? I mean, I'll have to visit Mum for a bit and all, but I'm ready to put all this Gamestation business behind us. I can't wait for the three of us to go see what trouble we can find!"

"Rose," he whispered. "I have to tell you what happened there. I promised myself I'd never keep anything from you, and I'm not about to start now."

She leaned back and looked at the Doctor. His face was pale, grim. "What's the matter? If I can forgive you for dumping me back on Earth with the TARDIS, if we all made it back alive, then why do you look like that, Doctor?"

"You have to promise me you'll never do it again, Rose. You can't do it ever again," he pleaded.

"Doctor, what did I do?"

His voice was hoarse, nearly broken. "You looked into the Time Vortex, and it almost killed you, Rose. Everyone was dead except me. I couldn't commit genocide again, I was awaiting my end at the hands of the Dalek fleet when my TARDIS materialized. You emerged, surrounded by light from the heart of the TARDIS. I was terrified. I begged you to let it go, Rose. But your eyes lost their unnatural glow for a moment, and you looked at me. You said you wanted me safe, protected from the false god."

Tears streamed down Rose's face. "It was all I could think of. Getting back to you, trying to save you. My Doctor. What happened?"

"You destroyed the Dalek fleet with little more than a flick of the wrist. They disintegrated. But you were starting to burn up from the inside. The power...would have killed you. I stepped forward to intervene, but the TARDIS had other plans. I couldn't touch you. And in the same cloud of swirling golden light, the TARDIS removed the vortex energy from you," he finished.

"I would have died if the TARDIS hadn't taken it back?"

"I was ready to take it out of you myself. I wouldn't have allowed you to die, not if I could stop it. You know that, Rose." He tenderly brushed away a tear with his thumb.

"But what would have happened if you had taken it back? You said it would have killed me."

The Doctor stared at her, refusing to look away from her, but clearly in torment. Rose had seen that look on his face before. At Downing Street, when her mother was haranguing him about her safety in the middle of a planetary crisis. He had looked at her, knowing he couldn't promise Rose's safety, and the fact that he couldn't tormented him.

He drew a deep breath. "I was going to tell you, before our relationship went any further, Rose. Time Lords have a bit of a trick when their body is dying. Every cell in my body would change. My face, my body, even my voice and personality. We call it regeneration."

Rose's expression was one of abject horror. "I could have killed you? And then I would have stood there looking at a stranger instead of you?"

"It's more complicated than that, Rose. Let me explain..."


	10. Truth and Consequences

**For those of you who are devotees of Ten/Rose, I feel like I have to give you a heads up. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. Nine is _my_ Doctor. The only thing that would have separated Nine from Rose was death. No Void. He would have known Rose had chosen him and would never have even tried to send her back to Jackie. There sure as hell would never have been any Reinette moment, either. Nothing against the Tenth Doctor, and certainly not David Tennant, but Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper were absolutely magnetic together, and although it isn't a particularly popular point of view, Rose's pairing with Ten didn't hold the same magic for me.**

"So let me get this straight, I nearly got both of us killed, and if _you_ had saved me instead of the TARDIS, it would have killed you. I would have woke up and found a different man looking at me, claiming to be you?" Rose had sprung up from the bed at his revelation and was pacing her bedroom floor.

"That's the way it would work, yeah."

"Different face, different voice, different personality, but you all the same?"

The Doctor nodded emphatically. "Yeah."

"I like who you are now, Doctor." Rose shook her head in despair. "Just when I think there are no more ways to be shocked..."

"My feelings for you would remain unchanged, Rose."

"How do you know that? If your personality is different, wouldn't it respond differently to mine? You might become an outrageous flirt. It's bad enough when you already have women who mistake your kindness for something else."

"You act like it would be all bad, Rose," he offered. "I might turn out a bit pretty."

"And you might turn into a grumpy old man who doesn't want to hold me anymore! I don't want pretty, anyway. I want _you_! I love your personality, and your manic grin. You do plenty of talking, but you don't just natter on aimlessly about nothing in particular. I'm not the same person I was before. I don't need some dandy who uses more hair products than I do."

Making a face, he replied, "I don't think I'd want to be _that_ pretty, Rose."

"I don't want you to be anything other than who you are, right here, right now, Doctor. Remember Platform One? Maybe it's a Human thing, but I love you the way you are. I love your voice, and the way you have about yourself." Rose sat down on the bed in front of him. "I love your face, and don't tell me it's a 'daft old face'. I love your eyes, Doctor. No one else has ever looked at me the way you do. I'm glad the TARDIS took matters into her own hands so I could have you just as you are."

Rose locked her arms around his neck and kissed him in desperation. "Just you," she breathed. The Doctor gasped when she caught his lower lip between her teeth. His arms tightened around her possessively and he battled for control and won. A low throaty moan escaped Rose's throat when she felt his tongue exploring, memorizing the contours of her mouth. He pulled away from her for a moment, his heart in his eyes.

"So you like my daft old face?"

"Love it...and your Northern accent that you claim has no relation to England, and I love your leather jacket. Though, I must say...I like what's underneath that jacket even more." Rose smiled wickedly as the tips of his ears turned pink. "I think you should know, Doctor. I never fancied Jack. It's always been you, from nearly the beginning. But I have to say, I'm not sorry he's here. I never had a brother, you know."

Rose straightened abruptly as realization hit her like a ton of bricks. The Doctor swallowed hard; this was the moment he had feared the most. "You said everyone was dead– that you were waiting for the Daleks to finish you off. How did Jack survive?"

This time it was the Doctor who stood up and turned away, staring as if he were looking out an imaginary window. "This was the part I've dreaded the most, Rose," he confessed. "Jack _did_ die. You used the power to bring him back."

Part of Rose was horrified that she had held that kind of power. For a few moments, she was the most power being the universe had ever seen. It was frightening to know that one person, even for a brief time, could wield authority over life and death, even resurrecting the dead. But she loved Jack.

"I'm not sorry," she confessed. "Jack is family, and this is our home. The three of us belong together, Doctor. We're all lonely, and so we fit together. You're the loneliest of all of us. Jack, despite his wicked ways, has a loving heart. He was lonely, too. And me...I always felt a bit isolated. I love my mum, but she never really wanted more for me than I already had. She thought being a shop girl had given me airs. That's why you're my home. I'm not sorry I brought Jack back."

The Time Lord turned around and Rose saw the anguish in his face. He shook his head sadly. "Bringing Jack back came at a price, Rose. You couldn't have possibly known what you were doing. I'm almost certain that when you brought Jack back, you made him immortal."

"What?"

"He's like Mount Vesuvius...Volcano Day. Like your father, Rose."

Rose's eyes widened in horror. "A fixed point in time and space."

"Yeah."

"And he can't die."

"Not permanently, no. You could stab him in the heart and he would die for a few minutes, and then he would come back to life as though it never happened."

"And _I_ did this? To Jack?"

"My Rose, you couldn't have known. I don't think you were even marginally aware of what you did with the vortex running through you. You mustn't blame yourself."

Rose shook her head violently, choking back tears. "Does Jack know?"

"I haven't told him yet." he murmured. "I wanted to tell you what happened first. Despite my fondness for Jack, you are always first with me."

Rose threw herself in the Doctor's arms, tucking her face under his chin. "How can I face him? How can he ever forgive me for doing such a thing to him? The reality would drive me insane if it were me facing immortality."

The Doctor pulled her over to the sofa where Jack and Mickey had sat and visited with her earlier. He drew Rose into his lap, and soothed her. She was so compassionate, his Rose. It ripped him apart to see her so anguished about something she had no real complicity in doing.

"Shhh...there's nothing you can do. We just have to tell him the truth."

"But how, Doctor? How can I possibly begin to tell Jack the truth?"

"Tell me the truth about what?"

The couple gasped and both jerked their head up to see Rose's bedroom door open, with a concerned Jack Harkness standing in the doorway.


	11. Stripped Bare

**TiaKisu:** _I separate what Nine did at Gamestation from what Ten did in Doomsday. Nine did it because he thought there was no other way. He knew they were all going to die, and if he could save Rose, he would do just that. Nine's love for her just seemed more all-consuming, more selfless in some ways, but more selfish in others. He didn't see his existence without Rose, and if he knew she wanted to stay with him, then I just couldn't have seen him sacrificing their happiness for Jackie. I kind of boil things down to this. Ten acted like Rose was the most important woman in the universe. Nine acted like Rose was the **only** woman in the universe. I think in the end, it might have been just as well that CE did the one series (though I think that sucks). He was talented enough to play more detachment in the second series, but it would have been character assassination- a complete departure from what was obviously his utter devotion to her in the first series. Had he survived Gamestation, I think his love for her would have been something that he eventually could no longer contain. At least that's the way CE played it to the viewing audience. Bringing in a new Doctor that loved Rose, but was clearly capable of stupid things his predecessor might have bloodied his lip over made it possible for the showrunners to prevent the show from becoming a soapy shipfest. Unfortunately for us, it was just very dissatisfying for those of us who thought Nine and Rose were perfect. Thank you so much for the review!_

* * *

><p>They didn't even hear him knock. Jack had heard the sobbing that had to be Rose and was concerned, just as he had been that night he had opened the door to Rose's bedroom and found out that it was really the Doctor's sleeping place of choice as well. He heard the Doctor's voice in a low murmur, trying to comfort her. When they didn't answer the door, he slowly opened it, only to see Rose in the Doctor's lap on the sofa. It was clear they were discussing him.<p>

Rose was despondent, curled up in the Doctor's lap, and his arms were holding her as if she'd disappear if he let go.

_"But how, Doctor? How can I possibly begin to tell Jack the truth?"_

"Tell me the truth about what?"

The Doctor didn't give Jack his usual glare when Jack entered Rose's bedroom uninvited. He just muttered, "I'm going to have to start reminding the TARDIS to lock our bedroom door."

Jack held his hands aloft. "I did knock! For the record, if you're so wrapped up in each other that you can't hear me knock, then wouldn't it be much better if you were at least getting some practice in for eventually making me _Uncle_ Jack?" He gave his trademark wicked grin. Jack knew there was something wrong when he couldn't get a rise from the Doctor with his usual jabs. "Really. What can't you tell me?"

Rose slid off the Doctor's lap onto the cushion next to him and held her hand out to Jack. "Come sit down with us."

Jack smiled at Rose and took her hand as he sat down. "What's the matter, Rose? What can be so terrible compared to what could have happened to the three of us at Gamestation?"

The Doctor spoke up this time. "It's time I told you what happened there. Why we're all alive."

Some time later, a shellshocked Jack Harkness was staring at his friends. "How do you know this? It could be a mistake."

"I'm a Time Lord," replied the Doctor, shaking his head in sympathy. "I knew that the Dalek had killed you, but my telepathic sense felt the moment when the Bad Wolf brought you back. I saw your timeline had stretched out before me, infinitely so. You felt...off. Jack, but not Jack. I don't know how else I can explain it."

"Electrocution, bullets, bombs, asphyxiation...they can't kill me?"

"Not permanently, Jack."

Rose reached out and took Jack's hand. "I don't remember any of it, Jack. I only know because the Doctor told me. I'm sorry."

Jack knew he couldn't let Rose feel at fault for what happened. "Sorry for what, Rose? The fact you didn't want me dead?"

"But Jack, just the thought of it..."

Jack shook his head. "I don't want you to feel bad, Rose. I...I'm going to go think for awhile. I just need to wrap my brain around it, is all." Jack stood up and left the room. Neither of them had seen his shoulders slumped before.

The couple exchanged looks of sympathy and anguish for their friend. "Doctor, do you really think he should be alone?"

"Let him be for awhile, Rose. We'll check on him later. It's a lot for any person to be faced with. In the meantime, I'm going to do something I thought I'd never do."

Rose looked at him warily. "What are you talking about, Doctor?"

"It's Christmas Eve, Rose. I'm going to spend time with my beautiful girl." He drew a deep breath before continuing. "And her mum."

Rose gaped in shock. She wasn't about to taunt him with the dreaded "D" word, but she couldn't help a little poking. "_You're_ going to sit across the table from my mum?"

"It's Christmas, Rose." The Doctor smiled, cupping her face in his hands. "That means something to you, and I managed to bring you home for it so your mum wouldn't suffer the way she did last year. I never did tell you I felt bad about that, Rose. It wasn't my intention to make Jackie worry like that."

"You never did tell me, no. But Doctor, we must get our facts straight."

"And what facts would you be referring to?"

"That you've brought me to visit my mum for Christmas. Not home. I'm already home. I told you, you're stuck with me."

The Doctor had to swallow back something primal at the realization that Rose had emphasized that her home was on the TARDIS, with him. Yes, he could put up with Jackie for awhile, if it meant she came home with him again.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Get dressed and meet me in the console room! Hurry up!" The Doctor smiled at her the same way he did as he watched her bound towards the wardrobe room on their first trip to Cardiff.

It came as no surprise to Rose when she found the Doctor, doing his usual tinkering underneath the console. "Come on, slowpoke, or I'll make you wear a paper crown!"

"Oi! I said I'd visit your mum. I didn't say I was a nutter!" He slid out from underneath the console and followed Rose outside.

Rose remembered the first time he had brought her home. He had this lazy grace as he leaned against the TARDIS, arms folded across his chest. She couldn't remember a time that she wasn't drawn to him. The Doctor stepped behind her and then placed both hands on her shoulders, looking down at her with that expression that he no longer tried to conceal.

"You look lovely in that red jumper," the Doctor whispered.

"Jack bought it for me for my birthday."

The Doctor coughed lightly. "I'm not certain I like Jack knowing what size you wear."

Rose's laughter cut through the brisk December air and she turned around to look at him. "It's not like he knows what size my bra and knickers are."

Dark possession flickered in his eyes. "He had better not."

Rose smiled and shook her head, as if to remind him he had nothing to worry about. "I don't want him to be alone for long, Doctor. I think we should check on him in awhile. It's not good for someone like Jack to spend a lot of time brooding. It's not in his nature."

The Doctor stepped closer to Rose and his lips were within an inch of hers. His eyes had become these steel-blue windows to his soul as he whispered, "One of the most valuable lessons you've ever taught me, Rose Tyler. It isn't good for _anyone_ to be alone." There would always be pain, guilt, loss. But she had made him better.

For Rose, his mask had been stripped from him since Van Statten's bunker. He had tried to hide himself, but was utterly unsuccessful after that. But since they managed to survive Gamestation, he hadn't bothered to hide the love he had for her. It was if he had been granted another chance at everything and almost all of the barriers had come down.

"So, are you ready to face the indomitable Jackie Tyler?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, but I think I need something for luck," he replied, as his lips met hers.

Their momentary bliss was shattered by a strident cry as a familiar middle-aged woman ran towards them.

"Rose! Doctor! You've come back!"


	12. A Christmas Miracle

There it was, that box that had taken her daughter away from her, the box that would always take her away from her. But Jackie Tyler knew that it had less to do with the box, but rather the madman inside. She was returning from some last minute Christmas shopping when her heart turned over with joy. Maybe the box did take Rose away, but it had also brought her back, too.

Jackie had come to believe in the Doctor, though she would rather die than admit it to the man. He had saved the world, blown up Downing Street and Rose came out of it unscathed. In the end, when he thought he was facing certain death, he chose the route of no escape, and sent Rose home, ensuring no way to ever return. With that one action, he had won Jackie's grudging respect.

But there was no denying the truth of what occurred in the aftermath. Whatever denials Rose had made when she left with him the second time, simply could not be believed after he sent her away from the battle he thought they would die in. This wasn't just guilt over a friend, or losing a best mate, and Rose herself admitted that it had nothing to do with the traveling or adventures. It had to do with him. She was in love with him.

Jackie knew from the day Rose came home after a year of being missing that despite their emphatic protests, there was something between the two of them. Maybe they weren't shagging...yet. The way he smiled at her, as if he loved seeing her reaction to everything. The way she looked at him, as if he were the most fascinating man she had ever seen. Rose had made it clear that the Doctor was welcome and that was that. This was even before she knew the truth about the mysterious alien man.

That poor hapless chap Mickey had borne the brunt of it. Not only had Jackie made him miserable with not-so-subtle murder accusations, but then she found out that Mickey knew about the Doctor, knew Rose had traveled with him. Jackie had watched Mickey gleefully lash out at Rose, telling him her new boyfriend had left her; his blue box had just disappeared. There was no mistaking the panic in Rose's eyes as she bolted out the door.

Jackie had time later to think on things a bit. She had witnessed two things...murderous plastic shop dummies in the streets of London, and then a mysterious alien craft had crashed on the Thames. She followed Rose and Mickey outside, just to hear them arguing with each other.

Then Rose's voice, "He's not my boyfriend, Mickey. He's better than that! He's much more important..." Telling words, those. This man was more important to her than any other man? Apparently more important than her own mum, considering how long she was gone.

Then that key in Rose's hand began to glow and flicker, and even an alien craft on the Thames couldn't prepare Jackie for what happened next. That blue box Mickey couldn't seem to shut his gob about suddenly appeared with a sound that Jackie had never heard before in her life. Undoubtedly alien, that, and so was that man who had taken Rose.

In the end, it resulted in her daughter being at 10 Downing Street, while she and Mickey were desperately trying to get away from a horrible alien who wanted to kill them. Funny how the Doctor looked so human, but this alien looked like something out of comics.

But some truths were uncovered that night. This man was brilliant, because within seconds he had the solution to killing the Slitheen in Mickey's kitchen. Something else happened, too. Whether he was witting of the fact or not, there was no mistaking his regard for her daughter. One sentence that revealed it all, this alien man loved Rose. He was torn about the solution he had been bandying about in that alien brain of his only because of Rose.

Jackie knew it was fruitless to beg Rose not to leave again. She had witnessed something from the window after they had successfully returned from Downing Street. She was overjoyed to see Rose alive, unscathed. But she wasn't blind. These two held fast to each other's hand as they approached his magic box. They stood there for a moment, talking to each other, and they didn't let go of each other until Rose started to head up to the flat. Even then, the Doctor stayed outside for a few moments, as though he wanted to make sure Rose made it inside safely.

Jackie knew she was fighting a losing battle against something bigger than herself, bigger than anything that she had ever seen. This alien man's love for Rose was such that he hesitated to save the lives of billions because it meant risking Rose's life. Rose's trust in him so absolute that she didn't hesitate to let him do it, even though she had no idea what it was. He loved her enough to send her home, knowing he was going to die. Rose loved him too much to die alone. She was determined to save him, or die with him instead.

There they were, both of them safely returned from what they had both thought was a certain death. A slight twinge of envy shot through Jackie, and it made her feel ashamed. But the way he stood there, with his hands on Rose's shoulders, looking down at her as though she were his entire universe. As much as she had loved Pete, he never looked at her like that. She didn't even have to witness the kiss to know that things had changed between them. She doubted they would deny it, either. But Rose had that radiant smile on her face, she glowed with love for this man.

Jackie thought he was rather dishy, even if he were an alien. After all, she had tried to get his attention the first time she ever saw him. But Rose was so young, only 20 years old. Still, she wouldn't be the first young woman to fall for an older bloke. All man, this one...or so she presumed. But her heart was filled with joy because she had a Christmas miracle. Whatever had happened, Rose had managed to save her man and they made it back.

She couldn't help but call out to them as she ran towards them.

"Rose! Doctor! You've come back!"

Rose turned around and rushed to hug her mother. "Mum! I'm here for Christmas!"

"And so you are! A Christmas miracle, it is!" Then she turned to the Doctor. "So help me, I'm happy to see you, Doctor!"

"Yet another Christmas miracle, Jackie," he quipped.

Jackie grew thoughtful for a moment. "I wanted to thank you for what you did for my Rose, sending her back and all. My daughter said you were a good man. It was an unselfish thing you did."

"I couldn't have done any less, Jackie. But I still have to ask- why did you help her come back?"

"Her heart was broken. Then she told me what you did for her, taking her to meet my Pete. I always wondered who the girl was that stayed with him while he died."

The Doctor found himself in an unusual position, at a loss for words. He could never tell Jackie what Rose actually did to save his life, so he simply said, "I don't know what to say, Jackie, except thank you. Thank you for sending her back to me."

"My, my," smirked Jackie, "Himself's at a loss for words! Come on, let's go up for a nice cuppa. It's getting cold out here!"

Rose looked at them and smiled. Jackie would always worry, and would never quite understand or even approve, but there was some peace at last. A Christmas miracle, indeed.


	13. It's Only Right

**I have agonized over this chapter for days. These two still have things to discuss, but Rose is very young. They're in love, they're very close to each other, and they talk about so many things, but sex is something they've (pardon the pun) danced around, spoke of in euphemisms, etc. She's not a sex goddess, and I honestly see her being shy with him when it comes right down to it, although not shy enough to run from it. Nine's control is unraveling, and we'll see more conclusive evidence of that to come, and the reasons why. But I just can't see him snapping enough to drag her back to their bedroom over Christmas while they're still visiting with Jackie. I also haven't forgotten about Jack, either.**

**I read an article the other day reviewing a recent episode, and I just couldn't believe it. Could. Not. Believe. It. The author was actually comparing Nine and Twelve as parallels in asexuality. Nothing could be further from the truth. The relationship between Nine and Rose was sexually charged from the beginning from them landing on top of each other, breaking her mother's coffee table, to the turning of the earth- even the way CE confessed to being an alien was sexy. There was nothing asexual about the Ninth Doctor. Just because Eccleston wasn't bouncy and adorable like Tennant doesn't mean he wasn't a drop dead sexy man. He just...is. But then, I am biased. **

They were on the roof, the same place they had fled to when he brought her home a year late. Things had improved, but her mum's tendency to yarn on about nothing important had even Rose looking for an escape route. The Doctor looked at Rose meaningfully, gave her a soft smile and headed out the door, leaving mother and daughter sitting together for a private chat.

When Rose turned to her mother, Jackie had a sly smile on her face. "Are you still going to try and tell me that it's not like that?"

With a bluntness that would have made her blue eyed Time Lord proud, she answered her mother. "No," she said frankly.

"I've always known, Rose. Even when you denied it all those months ago, I've always known. Perhaps that's one of the reasons I was so angry at him...besides the fact that he brought you home a year late."

"He didn't do it on purpose, Mum. Sometimes the TARDIS works that way. She brought us here a year late because that's when the Slitheen came here. We needed to be here at that time so the Doctor could save Earth. Sometimes it just works that way."

"Does he really make you happy, Rose?"

A bright smile spread over Rose's face as she thought of her Doctor. "No man has ever looked at me the way he does, Mum. We just...work. We finish each other's sentences, we find joy in the same things. I love him..."

"And he loves you." finished Jackie. "I knew it when he was actually thinking about letting the entire planet go to hell in a hand basket if it meant he could still be with you. How did you save him? I doubt he would have parted with his precious box if he hadn't believed he was a goner."

Rose knew she could never tell her mother what really happened. Rose didn't remember what happened, and if her mother knew what she had done, she would have been horrified. So she chose a simpler route. Her mother knew about aliens, so this explanation wouldn't be a stretch. "When you and Mickey helped me open the TARDIS, I was able to talk to her. The TARDIS is alive, Mum. It's the last piece of home the Doctor has, because his world is gone. I told her that the Doctor was in trouble and I had to save him. So she took me back, and helped me rescue him."

"If I heard it from anyone else, Rose, I would think they're a nutter. But now I know more than most do, and so you can't really shock me."

"You might be surprised, Mum," smiled Rose. "I never did tell you about my very first trip with the Doctor where I met a psycho trampoline named Cassandra who fancied herself the last Human in the universe. I know when the world ends, Mum. And it has nothing to do with all the stuff you hear on the telly, either. It's just nature taking its course."

"My daughter, traveling the universe in time, knowing things like that," replied Jackie in amazement.

"Lot more fascinating than A-Levels, that's for sure," Rose replied airily as she stood up from the sofa. "I'm going to go talk to the Doctor for a minute, Mum. We have a friend who travels with us, and he was at Gamestation too. I'd like to invite him over, if that's all right."

"Oh, is that the Captain Jack bloke you told me about?"

Rose grinned. "You've never met Captain Jack. Just a fair warning- he flirts with everyone, and I _do_ mean _everyone_. He's very handsome, too."

"Handsome, you say? And you and he never?"

"Outside of a dance in 1941 during the Blitz, which made the Doctor very jealous, I think of him as more of a fun, protective older brother."

Jackie was incredulous. "Himself was jealous?"

"The Doctor _is_ a man, Mum. He basically told Jack to sod off where his attentions to me were concerned," laughed Rose. "Didn't even bother to deny his enormous case of Captain Envy. He refused to let Jack dance with me in the TARDIS and then the Doctor twirled me around the console to Glenn Miller. Smart move, that, flirting with Jack." Rose winked at her mother.

Their eyes met and mother and daughter started to laugh heartily at that universal constant. "Some things stay the same, regardless of whether the bloke is Human or Time Lord. Would you mind going to the market and getting a couple of items for me? I always wind up forgetting something." Jackie went to jot a couple of things on a small scrap of paper and handed it to Rose. "Let me get you some money."

Rose waved her away. "Not necessary. I have means. See you later."

Rose took off for the roof and saw the Doctor standing there. It was odd to see him almost still. He was always moving. In the beginning, he sometimes had a hard time remembering that Humans needed sleep. That changed after Utah, after they started to share a bed. He started to sleep a bit more as well. As time went on, the incidents where he thrashed in the bed in terror and waking up in a panic lessened.

The Doctor turned around, for there was that preternatural sense that never failed to tell him she was nearby. He strode towards her, with that smile that was reserved for her alone. She ran towards him, and he scooped her up in his arms, holding her tightly, laughing. It seemed like a lifetime ago that they had sat on this very rooftop, watching him comically hold his cheek in the wake of the infamous Jackie Tyler slap.

They had both changed over the course of the past several months. She had matured, grown from the things she had witnessed during their travels. He had softened, become less bitter as he let his defenses down for her.

The Doctor set her back down, but didn't loosen their embrace. "This was a fantastic idea!"

"Getting a bit too human down there?"

"I'm rather fond of this particular human," was his sly rejoinder.

"I love my mum and all, but I'm starting to feel the way you do about this sort of brand of domestic. After Christmas, what kind of plans do we have?"

"I had originally thought that we would drop Jack off somewhere sinful, right up his alley. Then I had thought you and I might disappear for a few days." His grin was incandescent.

Rose's eyes widened in surprise. "You're serious? No asking me if I'm sure? Nothing about centuries of Time Lord rules?"

"Even my resistance can break," he sighed. "Any lingering questions I might have had vanished when you came back for me, Rose. I'm having trouble enough holding back as it is. But now-"

"But now what?"

"I don't think you really want to leave Jack behind right now. Neither do I."

"Not really," she admitted. "But Doctor, you have to know that I never had any expectations beyond it being about you and me. Do you even know the biggest reason we've continued to share a bed all these months?"

"I have a feeling you're going to tell me it has little to do with nightmares."

"I have never been closer to anyone than I've been to you, Doctor. I wanted the intimacy of our sleeping arrangements." Rose rested her cheek against the Doctor's jumper, so he couldn't see her embarrassment at the next admission. "You have no idea what it's like to sleep with a man who wants to sleep with you and keep you close, but has no demands as to what you can do for him."

The Doctor expected as much. He knew Rose wasn't a blushing virgin, but had figured out that she still had so much in the way of innocence about her. No doubt any "sleeping arrangements" she might have had in the past held little reward for her. "We've never really talked about that aspect of things, Rose. I need you to know-" He tilted her chin up so she could see his face. "-that outside of feeling very possessive where you're concerned, I'm not a...selfish man."

"I know. That's why I want this so much, Doctor. Because of how I feel, because all this time you've given me affection, love, protection and didn't expect me to take my clothes off for you. But I do want to, because I've never-". She broke off, feeling embarrassed, and a little silly.

"Never what, Rose?"

"Blimey, this is so silly of me. Chalk it up to my female train of thought. Little late to be scared now at that."

"What is silly, Rose?" Old insecurities washed over him and he couldn't hide the wounded look in his eyes. "Are you scared of me?"

"No! I've been afraid _for_ you, but I've never been afraid _of_ you. I'm just feeling a bit shy, is all. It's a female quirk, really."

"I can't help you with your quirks if you don't tell me what they are."

Rose flushed from her collarbone to her ears as she met his intense, unwavering gaze. "It's just that things with you even as they are now, with our clothes on is so much more than I had with Mickey or Jimmy with our clothes off. I don't know how else to explain it-"

"I think it's fantastic," replied the Doctor, abruptly cutting off her line of thought. He reassured her with that manic grin of his, and the way his eyes lit up when he looked at her.

They had spent months talking about anything they wanted to talk about with each other, except the growing, unspoken love and need for each other. That subject had never been directly addressed until after Cardiff. Even then, it was tentative steps.

He led Rose to the concrete outcropping and they sat together. "It's only right that you feel this way, Rose. If you didn't, it wouldn't work. Before the Looms, Time Lords mated for life. That's what I meant when I said you would be mine and it would be permanent."

Rose thought of her Doctor unflinchingly flying the TARDIS through the Dalek fleet, his fulfillment of his promise to come and get her. "I'm already yours permanently, Doctor. But don't leave me behind anymore." She started to sob at the memory of him locking her in the TARDIS, and sending her home with no way back to him. She buried her face in his neck as she had done dozens of times in the past, reveling in his scent. "I don't know how you ever thought I would live a fantastic life without you."


	14. The Talk

In an uncharacteristic fit of domestics, the last of the Time Lords found himself at the market with his 21st Century Earth girl on Christmas Eve. Rose glanced at him askance when he insisted on accompanying her.

"It's Christmas Eve, and you lot tend to get a bit crazy this time of year. Jeopardy-friendly as you are and all, it wouldn't be a stretch for you to find trouble. Besides, I'm not so eager to be separated from you."

She answered him with that grin that never ceased to lift his spirits. "Sometimes Doctor, you can be very sweet. But when we go back, you'll have to leave me for awhile, to talk to Jack."

"You're not coming?"

"No. I think you're the only person who can talk to him about this. I have no understanding, and you do. I know you're not immortal, but you can identify with Jack a lot better than I can."

They were walking back to Jackie's, hands blissfully intertwined. It was a stark contrast to most of the people around them- their unhurried afternoon wander compared to throngs of people dashing about on Christmas Eve. They smiled at each other, talking about everything, making plans. They're both still marveling at the fact that three days ago, they didn't have a future.

Rose had forgotten her key, and so the Doctor whipped out his sonic screwdriver to open the door. "Now that's why I never leave home without you, Time Lord," she giggled.

"Useful for many things, me," he grinned. He sets the bag from the market down on the floor. "Come here," he whispered. Before Rose knew what was happening, he had tenderly placed his hands on both sides of her face and was kissing her, slowly, intimately.

"Doctor," she croaked, legs buckling.

"Hush. Less talking, more snogging." He let his lips trail down to her neck, and his senses began to be overtaken by the softness of her skin, her scent flaring to life as he tightened his arms around her.

Rose gasped her way back to coherent thoughts and tried to pull away, but she was pulled back by the Doctor's large hands pulling her hips to his, with unmistakable intent. Eyes widening, she realized that she had a very aroused Time Lord on her hands, and she had to wrest herself away. "You're asking for a smack, you are!"

He jerked his head up, suddenly wounded, "You're going to smack me for kissing you?" He pointed up at the ceiling, "Besides, there's mistletoe up there. Let it not be said I don't honor any of your customs."

Rose started to giggle at this. She had forgotten about the mistletoe in the doorway that her mother always hung each year. "Of course not, but you know I'm not responsible for Mum's hyperactive hands."

"Ah," he smirked, undeterred. "I didn't have any guarantees of escaping a visit with your mum unscathed, so I might as well make the crime fit the punishment. Wonder where Jackie is, anyway?" The Doctor began to gently tease Rose's lower lip open with his thumb, and before he could pick up where he left off, a voice in the living room threw an icy bucket of water on things.

"Jacks is asleep in her room."

Both of them backed away from each other and turned around. The Doctor rolled his eyes, "Mickey."

"Had to say something before you got it in your head to drag Rose off to her old room." Mickey laughed, but without humor.

Rose shifted uncomfortably, wanting this conversation over with before it escalated into one of their famous spats. "Why is Mum asleep?"

Mickey shook his head in amazement. "Can't imagine she got that much sleep all this time she's been waiting since we sent you back to a war zone, Rose."

"You know why I had to go back, Mickey. I told you why."

"Because of him," gesturing at the Doctor.

"Yes."

The man in question stood closer to Rose, even more so than usual, in protective mode, his fingers insistently threaded through hers. He was astonished when Rose looked at him, knowing what she was going to say. "Go talk to Jack, Doctor. I need to talk to Mickey."

His eyes narrowed at her request, remembering Cardiff. "Are you sure, Rose?"

Mickey glared at him. "Ho! Don't think I didn't know that you and Jack Flash put your heads together and made sure I didn't have a private word with Rose earlier."

"Tread lightly, Rickey," the Doctor tightly replied, eyes darkening slightly. "I'll know the moment I see her if she's been crying. When I touch her, I'll know if it was because you upset her."

"Now Doctor, that's enough," interjected Rose, "Mickey did help me save you. I'll be alright."

Mickey watched as the two of them conversed without words for a moment, and then the Doctor nodded. The Doctor met Mickey's eyes for a moment as he placed an arm protectively around Rose's shoulder. In spite of all the times the Doctor had spent antagonizing him, calling him an idiot, calling him Rickey- this single look was something he had never allowed Mickey to see before. The Time Lord laid himself bare in that flash of eye contact. _"Mine."_

Eyes softening once again as his gaze turned towards Rose, he squeezed her hand tightly, kissing her softly on her temple before he left the flat.

"Mickey, the two of you are going to have to learn to deal with each other." Rose sighed as she sat down on the sofa across from Mickey.

"I always knew he was possessive, Rose. Now I have proof."

Rose ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. "I'm sorry, Mickey. I should have broken things off properly months ago. It wasn't fair to you. You didn't deserve for me to string you along that way."

"How long has this been going on, Rose? Don't think I didn't notice that you weren't very enthusiastic about staying at hotel with me in Cardiff!"

Rose bit her lip. She couldn't lie to him, for whatever had happened, he was still her oldest mate. "Emotionally, I think I've been attached to him for months. I think I started to look at him in a different way after we blew up Downing Street."

"That far back, Rose?" Mickey's nostrils flared in anger. "According to you, you barely knew him when you came back. It had only been a few days for you."

"It _had_ been a few days, Mickey! I can't explain what happened. Not really in any way that will make things better for you," she pleaded. "I can't change what has happened. I just wanted to apologize for the way I treated you. It wasn't fair."

"So you really do love him?" Mickey's shoulders were slumped.

Rose swallowed hard and nodded. "I'm sorry, Mickey."

Mickey gestured wildly out the window, towards where the TARDIS was parked. "He's an alien, Rose. Can he love you? I mean, I see that he fancies you. He wants to keep you."

Rose stood up and threw up her hands. "That's where you have no understanding of him. When he sent me home in the TARDIS, he was sacrificing _everything_ to keep me safe. Not only was he willing to die, with no way to escape, he also sent me home in his TARDIS. He's the last of an extinct people, Mickey. There is no other TARDIS in the universe because it is also from his planet. His planet is gone, it's destroyed, and all of his people are dead. It was the last piece of home he had."

_Rose remembered their return from 1987. She had retired to her bedroom, exhausted from everything that happened. She didn't relish the idea of sleeping alone, but she thought the Doctor wouldn't come to her room at night anymore. When she emerged from the bathroom, ready for bed, she was startled to see him already there. For the first time, he had climbed underneath the covers. Echoing her own actions after the Dalek, he flipped back the bedding on her side and opened his arms. It was all she could do not to leap on him before she started to sob. He held her all night, kissing her forehead and cheeks, tenderly brushing her hair back out of her face- and then she finally slept in his arms against his chest, their pajama-clad legs entangled._

Rose looked on Mickey with pleading eyes. "I know this hurts you. But don't doubt that he loves me. I brought about the end of the world once, because of one stupid, selfish move. Things were eventually returned to as they should be, but in the end, all I had to do was say I was sorry, and that was it. He forgave me, plain and simple. No holding it over my head later on. I don't expect you to forgive me overnight. I just hope that someday you can."

Mickey got up and stared out the window. "I'm sorry, too. I held on even after my brain was telling me it was over. Yeah, you should have made things more clear. But I should have known things were over once you left with him in the first place. Even if you were coming home to stay now, you're not the same anymore."

"No," Rose agreed. "I'm not the same anymore. I'm only sorry you were hurt because of it."

Mickey walked over and placed an arm around Rose's shoulders. "Give me some time, okay? In the meantime, it is Christmas, and I am glad you're alive and safe, Rose. Don't think I'm not happy you're safe, because I am. Jackie invited me for dinner like always, and I can even be nice to Big Ears for your sake. Nothing's ever gonna change that you and me grew up together."

The Doctor made his way back to the TARDIS and started to search for Jack. His bedroom door was open, and there was no sight of him. He started to actively search for him. The pool, the gym, the library...and no Jack. So he asked his ship. "Alright! I know you're still not thrilled about him being around, but it would have been wrong to leave him with hundreds of corpses on an abandoned satellite. But this wasn't his fault, what happened. He's my friend, and I'd like to know where he is!"

The TARDIS hummed to answer him, and both of his eyebrows shot straight up. He ran down the corridor, and even the Oncoming Storm was shocked when he found Jack. He was sitting on the edge of one of the infirmary beds.

"Jack..."

Jack's eyes were glittering with tears, but that wasn't what made the Doctor stop in his tracks. There was blood all over the sheet on the medical bed. Jack raised his arm up to show the Doctor. Even though it was smeared with blood, there were no wounds of any kind.


	15. Coming to Terms

**Jack wasn't really trying to kill himself. He just wanted to test the theory out. Starting out small and working up to something lethal is just a powerful, yet horrifying mental image, knowing that a mortal wound would heal in a matter of seconds. But I wanted Jack to not feel so alone. He wasn't abandoned on the Gamestation as he was in canon, and he has the Doctor and Rose. The three of them are the greatest Team TARDIS in the history of the show, IMO. They had family potential, and it was sad to see that die with the Ninth Doctor. Mickey isn't thrilled, obviously. But in canon, we all know that Mickey held on far too long. Rose's obvious relationship with Nine will give him that freedom. Mickey will soon find an upside to losing out to the Doctor.**

The Doctor saw the tears glittering in the eyes of his friend and his hearts turned over. So much had happened since he had first met Captain Jack Harkness. In his mind, he had gone from rogue and con-man, hellbent on seducing his girl to companion and trusted friend. In spite of his bawdy sense of humor and pushing the envelope with them, Jack Harkness was the one man he knew he could entrust with Rose's safety in a crisis. When it came down to the wire, Jack was one of the bravest men he had ever known. He had fought for the universe, for Earth, for Rose, and he had done it in the name of the Doctor.

The dashing young man before him was a man who was now shattered with the realization that he was immortal, and could not die. Even the Doctor, cursed as he was with longevity, would eventually die.

In a softer tone than perhaps he had ever used with Jack Harkness, he pleaded, "Tell me that's not what it looks like, Jack."

"No, I intended to fix it up," he sighed quietly. "Turns out I didn't have to."

"I'm sorry, Jack."

Jack started to throw off his usual million-watt grin but it fell flat, turned into more of a grimace that was out of place with Jack's usual enthusiasm. "I wasn't trying to kill myself, really. Just wanted to see what would happen. I started out small, barely more than a paper cut, and it closed up immediately."

"But you didn't stop there," observed the Doctor.

"No, I finally went all out. Did something that should have made me bleed out in minutes. It closed in less than ten seconds." Jack stared at the flawless, unscarred skin underneath the smeared, dried blood. "So, it's true. Doctor..."

Knowing the unspoken question the Doctor sadly shook his head, "I don't know, Jack. Genius, me. But I haven't got a clue, and I'd not want to even try something until you lived a full lifespan."

Jack nodded. "In case the solution killed me immediately, you mean."

"It's just a good thing I didn't have to regenerate. I might have had to leave you up there to get Rose to safety. Dodgy process sometimes."

"So the legends are true. You don't die, but regenerate."

The Doctor pulled up a chair and sat next to his friend. "I would have had to regenerate if the TARDIS hadn't pulled the Time Vortex out of Rose herself. I would have had to do it, and it would have caused my body to die. Glad I didn't have to, you know. It would have devastated Rose. Never will understand why she likes this beat up old face." The Doctor's mouth twisted into a wry smile when he thought of Rose.

"How many times have you regenerated," asked Jack.

"This is my ninth body, Jack. Theoretically, my bodies age very slowly. I could stay in this form for hundreds of years. I've just run through most of my different incarnations much more quickly than most Time Lords did. Kind of hard to stay out of trouble when you place value on life and put your own at risk to try to help other people. I'm not a very good Time Lord. Never cared about any of the rules. I loved my home, but the superiority in which my species held itself was never anything I was proud of. They never did understand my fondness of your lot."

"But how do you deal, Doctor? I'll be faced with watching people I care about die. What if I meet someone like Rose?"

"In 900 years, there has never been anyone like Rose. Not for me. Not even one of my own people. I'm fairly young for a Time Lord, so that's not a complete surprise. I never even thought of wanting a quieter life until I met her. Which brings me to this, Jack. We're going to have to be more careful."

Captain Jack shook his head and started to chuckle. "You really have a one track mind. I don't think Rose is going to want to slow down."

"It's not just Rose I'm thinking of, Jack. You're my friend. I know you can take care of yourself but I have to protect you as much as I can. In this century, if you were shot or something and the right people saw you heal, they would dissect you in nothing flat. Besides, we're not gonna slow down that much. I can't stay still for long. Just wait until you've spent two days with Jackie Tyler." The Doctor grinned broadly at his last statement. "I don't have any answers for you, Jack. I can't promise you any solutions. But you're not alone."

"I guess that's all I can hope for right now. I don't want to die right now, Doctor. Most humans dream of immortality. A small part of me is even happy that even a Dalek can't kill me now. That's part of my species' nature, Doctor. But I know that will tarnish quickly. I'm glad you didn't have to regenerate, Doctor. Don't think I'd relish being left behind." This time Jack's lascivious grin was genuine. "Besides, _I_ fancy your ears and cheekbones, too."

The Doctor rolled his eyes, "Not a chance, Harkness. But at least there's the man I know."

Jack made a mock pout at the Time Lord's routine dismissal of his advances. "Yeah, I know. You and Rose didn't learn the lesson about _sharing_ in kindergarten. Where is our girl, anyway?"

The two men headed out of the infirmary into the corridor. Not missing a beat, the Doctor cheerfully replied, "_My_ girl is at her mother's. Hopefully making goodies, but Rickey might be giving her a hard time. He was practically lying in wait for her when we came back from our wander."

"Give me five minutes, Doctor." There wasn't a trace of winter in Jack's smile now. "We can sit here all day while I piss and moan about defying the Grim Reaper, or we can go rescue the girl! I think I'll get my keyboard, too. Maybe if I charm the pants off of Jackie, she won't slap you into your next incarnation?"

The Doctor practically shook his finger in Jack's face. "Rose's mother is off-limits. Although, that woman did try to come on to me the first time she laid eyes on me," he mused with a grimace. "And no, Rose doesn't know anything about it. But by all means, get the keyboard. Rose will love it. No use in standing in the corridor working our gobs. I'll be waiting in the console room."

Rose, Jackie, and Mickey were busy decorating Christmas cookies at the dining table. Mickey and Rose had reached a truce and the three were actually commiserating about past holidays. They were actually laughing when Rose heard the telltale whirring of the sonic screwdriver, and the Doctor appeared in the doorway with a smiling Jack Harkness in tow. Rose dropped everything and ran to both of the men with a welcoming smile. She embraced Jack and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek and looked him in the eyes.

"I'm okay, Rose," replied Jack.

Rose practically bounced on the balls of her feet in enthusiasm. "And you've brought your keyboard! _Now_ it's a party!" She turned around and grinned at Jackie and Mickey. "Mum, Jack brought his keyboard, and you're gonna love it!"

"Oi," the Doctor protested, "What sort of greeting do I get?"

Rose leapt at the Doctor and he swung her into a bear hug. She leaned over and whispered in his ear and said, "Now you know I can't do what I really want with an audience, Doctor!" But she pulled back and briefly brushed her lips against his all the same.

On his best behavior, the Doctor walked over to Jackie Tyler. "Jackie, this is our friend Captain Jack Harkness."

"A pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Tyler." Jack dipped his head with a grin.

"Call me Jackie," she replied breathlessly. "You said he was handsome, Rose. That's not quite how I'd put it."

"More like cheesy is _still_ how I'd put it," grumbled Mickey, still at the table.

"That's the way, Rickey! Merry Christmas," jeered the Doctor with his usual grin.

Mickey started to open his mouth but then shook his head, smiling. He wasn't happy about how things had turned out, but he had to come to terms with reality. He realized that the Doctor had called him Rickey out of jealousy, because he wanted to take his place as the man in Rose's life. And so he had. Now that he had no question of the lay of the land, he could really move on. His jealousy of Rose and the Doctor's mutual adoration was tempered with a measure of respect, because at least he knew now the alien loved Rose and would always take care of her. So there was only one response he could make, even with the Doctor winding him up. "Merry Christmas to you, Doctor!"


	16. Christmas Eve

**I think I need to step up the rating soon. No fun time in the sack yet, but both of them have sex on the brain right now. They've both been waiting for what seems like forever.**

It was a fine Christmas Eve. Even the Doctor was unusually jovial. It was amazing how even Jack's less ribald tales involved him and/or others winding up naked, him arrested for some perversion that would be considered nothing even on Earth in the 21st century, or escaping some obscure royalty who wanted him as a concubine. Jackie, in particular, was absolutely in stitches.

"How did you wind up traveling with Rose and the Doctor?"

"Now if I had known how much fun it would be, I think I would have sought them out to tag along with in the first place rather than to try and con them," grinned Jack.

"Jack originally wound up in my path, Mum. My fault, really. I had disobeyed Rule One of traveling on the TARDIS."

"What's Rule One, sweetheart?"

"Don't wander off," replied the Doctor and Rose in unison.

"Wait a minute," cried Jack. "That's not what the Doctor told me Rule One is!"

"What rule did the Doctor tell you," asked Jackie.

Jack's grin was angelic as he looked over at the Doctor. "Hands off the blonde."

The Doctor scowled at Jack while the rest of them burst into laughter. Rose looked up at the Doctor, eyes sparkling with mirth. It was infectious, and soon enough he was smiling, too.

Finally, Rose insisted it was time for Jack to shine. Jack was beyond talented- he could have been a professional if he wanted to.

The Doctor was initially dismayed after Jack purchased a new keyboard on one of their many excursions. He found Jack and Rose in the library one day, with the new pet pretty boy singing, of all things, _Younger Than Springtime_. The last thing he needed was "swooning over crooning" in addition to "dating and dancing".

_"You needn't sulk, Doctor," she chided him later. "Just because Jack sounds like he could be a star on the West End doesn't mean a thing." Rose slipped beside him in bed, laid her head on his chest, hugging him as tightly as she could with one arm._

_"You mean that?"_

_Rose looked up at him in a way that made his hearts start to race. "Of course I do. Jack is fun. Jack is flirtatious. But Jack is not the Doctor."_

Jack was in fine form, singing a couple of standards, plus a couple of ones no one had heard -ones not written yet. But the icing on the cake came when he went over the top and sang_ Santa Baby_ with just the right amount of flamboyance. When he was done, the Doctor was sniggering. "It's bloody hard to take you seriously when you're singing about all the fun you've missed, Jack."

"Well, I never!" Then Jack dissolved into laughter, obviously not a bit insulted.

Rose and the Doctor were sitting side-by-side on the sofa, forever holding hands. Rose was grateful he hadn't put his arm around her because she was having increasingly sexy thoughts. He was brooding intensity, beautiful high cheekbones, boundless energy, and blatant sexuality that radiated from his blue eyes. The fact he didn't even know it made it even worse. Wrapped up in his sexy leather armor that most of the world never saw him without, Rose found her thoughts wandering to the solitude of their bedroom, where her gorgeous Time Lord would strip down those layers and he only did it for her. She was glad to spend Christmas with Mum, glad that the Doctor had given in to two days of domestics and wasn't merely holing up underneath the TARDIS console. All of the people who meant the most in the world to her were together. She had even come to a tentative truce with Mickey.

But Rose was anxious for their holiday to be over. She wanted to go somewhere safe and beautiful so Jack could go make some mischief and she and the the Doctor could spend a few days literally wrapped up in each other. She looked up to see the Doctor looking down at her, as if they were both of the same mind. His eyes darted down to her lips and then back up again. She wanted to slide her hands underneath his jumper and nip at his collarbone. Suddenly Rose felt warm breath against her ear.

"Not exactly reflecting on the Immaculate Conception, are we?"

Rose blushed furiously; he had never called her out that way before, and certainly not in company. "Not nice, Doctor."

"I'm spending two days with Jackie at the height of human domesticity. You have to allow me some amusements."

"I'd allow you plenty of bloody amusements if you would take me back home," she whispered.

The Doctor inwardly groaned, knowing full well what Rose wanted. He was dying to give it to her. All day there had been something about her, and it hadn't merely been the changing physical dynamic between them. It was the glow of her skin, the pink tint of her cheeks in the December air, and how delightful she smelled when she wrapped her arms around him. Something different. He wanted to drag her away from everyone, Jack included, and take the TARDIS up in the vortex while he spent hours making love to her. He wanted to know what would make her gasp, clutch him closer to her, and most of all he wanted to know all of the different ways he could make her come undone for him. He wanted to be done with fighting his desire for her. Now that he had stopped fighting his love for her, he was overwhelmed with the need to possess her.

Jack, as always, had impeccable timing. "There they go again."

Jackie was drawing a total blank. "What's that, Jack?"

"Let's just say the first time I met Rose and the Doctor, they were so engrossed in their own conversation that they didn't even notice I had teleported them. That was an enlightening romp all the way around. I found out he had blown up the munitions factory where I obtained my trusty sonic blaster. He swiped it from me and switched it with a banana."

"Bananas are good," mimicked Rose, imitating the Doctor's Northern accent.

"Oi!"

"Oi yourself! Only you would make that sort of mischief in the middle of gas mask zombies during World War II."

Mickey gaped in amazement. "My God, you are such a pyro. First Rose's job, the London Eye, then Downing Street-"

"Whoa," interrupted Jack, "you blew up Downing Street?"

"Oi! Captain, if you hadn't been so busy flirting with those triplets on Mallonix VII, you might have heard it mentioned. How do you think Rose and I dealt with the Slitheen the first time around? But I couldn't have done it without Rickey-boy over there." The Doctor gave Mickey an almost proud look.

"It's _Mickey_, and yeah, I blew up Downing Street on his orders." Mickey gestured at the Doctor, actually smiling at the memory. A mechanic from a council estate hacked into the RAF and blew up 10 Downing Street, and the only person of importance who knew about it was Harriet Jones herself. She would never give that information up.

"With Rose in it. Adrenaline junkies, those two." groused Jackie. "Oh, and Harriet Jones won the election, by the way. No one believes me when I say my Rose knows the Prime Minister."

The Doctor and Rose grinned at each other. "Britain's Golden Age!"

As it turned out, Jackie had plans for later. Even though it was impossible for Howard to deliver groceries to her on Christmas Eve, it was a given that he had made plans with Jackie that evening. This was all to the Doctor's great relief (in terms of escaping Jackie Tyler), so he acquiesced to Jack's idea of going to a pub that was still open.


	17. A Bit Gentler

**This short chapter is a bit of an interlude, a setup for what takes place with Mickey and Jack at the pub, and with the Doctor and Rose back at the TARDIS. Once we get back to the TARDIS, much fluff will ensue. As for rewriting Season 2 episodes, I'm mulling that over. There's some of them I don't really want to touch. I think we will head from Christmas into New Earth. No regeneration means no Sycorax, I think.**

"You're different." It was a statement, not an accusation.

Rose and the Doctor were chatting outside of the pub while Jack and Mickey were already inside. It wasn't terribly cold, and they had had enough of company at Jackie's flat.

"What do you mean by 'different'," the Doctor asked. He deliberately ran his thumb over the inside of her wrist as he clasped her hand.

"Oh, you're still you. But perhaps a bit gentler, a bit less haunted. And you spent Christmas Eve with my mum and never once called her a nosey harpy."

The Doctor laughed, "It's hard for me to get angry with the woman who brought you that truck just so you could save me."

"I don't like forcing you into all this domestic stuff, though."

"Who said anything about forcing? Rose, if we're together, it means I accept you and all of what comes with you. Even making nice with Rickey." The Doctor gestured through the window where Mickey and Jack were already at a table, drinking a pint.

"You want to go in and join them?"

"Nope. As a matter of fact, I think we should go home."

"Doctor, shouldn't we tell Jack where we're headed?"

"I suppose so," he sighed, feigning inconvenience. "Although, knowing Jack, he might not come home at all. He'll find something attractive or simply breathing and ditch us for the night. But I don't want him to come back and be alarmed when he finds us not in our room."

"Not in our room?"

"Hush. It's a surprise." His eyes were twinkling.

Rose shook her head. "I don't know what you have planned, but.."

"I think I said to hush! I promise, it's worth it." The Doctor pulled her by the hand towards the pub.

Meanwhile, Jack and Mickey were chatting it up.

"I can't bring myself to hate him," lamented Mickey. "Not when I see Rose so happy like that. And I should, you know."

"Maybe you're not supposed to, Mickey," Jack replied sympathetically.

"The Doctor has shown me that there are so many different ways one can choose to live their life. I was a con man. I'm missing two years of memories that the Time Agency erased from my mind. But all of that seems so much smaller since I met Rose and the Doctor. I made a big mess, and the world was damned lucky that the Doctor figured it all out. Then he let me come with them and showed me what it means to make a stand."

"You sound like Rose. That's what she kept going on about after he sent her home."

Jack smiled at Mickey. "You know, she was your girl first. And she saved the universe. So did you by extension. There's a lot of great things that can lie ahead for you, Mickey."

"Maybe." Mickey sounded skeptical. "Why don't you tell me one of your wild stories, Jack Flash? Maybe one that the Doctor wouldn't fancy you talking about in front of Rose."

"You've got him pegged, Mickey Mouse. I was given a list of types of exploits never to recount in front of Rose, right after he showed me to my room and told me that this was the only bedroom I was allowed to sleep in."

Mickey grew sober for a moment. "Can you tell me what really happened out there, in the future? Rose didn't tell me much of anything. One minute I've got a big truck hitched to the TARDIS and the next minute, the doors slam shut and it disappears."

Jack saw the Doctor and Rose. "Finally decided to join us?"

"Nah, I'm going to take Rose home. She just didn't want us to leave without saying something. Besides, I think she could still use some rest. We can meet up in the conservatory in the morning if you like."

Rose smiled shyly at the Doctor and waved at Mickey and Jack. "See you later!"

The Doctor and Rose had barely made it out of the pub before this leering figure stood in front of Jack and Mickey. His tone was unfriendly as he spat at the two men.

"Someone wanna tell me who the hell that bloke was with Rose?"


	18. Berserk Button

**Yeah, I know. Predictable plot device. Jimmy Stone. But I just couldn't help it. He is not "part of the story" now. That's the last we see of him. But I'm like a lot of Nine fans- we firmly believe that he wouldn't be above delivering retribution, especially if it meant helping Rose out. Rolling your eyes a bit over it? Scroll past the break for fluff, banter, and Jack-related humor. In fact, there is some shameless humor and fluff coming up before we head into New Earth. But right this second, our favorite trio is having a Happy Christmas on Earth. They deserve it because of Gamestation.**

**One more thing. There really IS a Captain Jack's Hypervodka t-shirt. There's also a really hilarious Nine/Rose story with the same title written by fogsblue. You should really check it out. That being said, I saw the t-shirt a couple of days ago and thought of some funny dialog. Speaking of hilarious, wait until Jack gives the Doctor a Christmas present.**

"Well, out with it, mate. Who is he?"

Jack had a genius level intellect, but no one needed that to notice the glare on Mickey's face upon seeing this man. He was about Jack's height, and had a face that might have been handsome had he not abused his body with drugs and alcohol. He also looked like he pissed off the wrong person at one time or another.

"I'm not your mate," replied Mickey coldly. "The only reason I get any pleasure from seeing you at all is knowing that your looks have gone to hell and poor unsuspecting girls don't seem to fancy a worn out never was."

Turning to Jack, Mickey sarcastically introduced their unwanted guest. "Captain Jack, everyone is entitled to a youthful mistake. Unfortunately, this one was Rose's. Meet Jimmy Stone."

Jack's eyes narrowed because Rose had mentioned some of her experiences with Jimmy and they weren't pleasant. In fact, Jack had thought it had made Rose's considerable abandonment issues even worse.

"How many times do I have to bloody ask, Smith," pressed Jimmy. "Who is he?"

"Well, I'd tell you," chuckled Jack, "but then we'd have to kill you."

"I don't recall asking you, Yank." Jack rolled his eyes but didn't bother correcting him.

"I don't have to tell you anything, Jimmy. I am curious about one thing though. When you and Rose did split up, you weren't going to give her things back. What made you change your mind?"

"Oh come off it, you know why I changed my mind. You couldn't do it yourself, so you found someone to do it. He looked like he was ex-military. Scariest bloke I had ever seen in my life, looked like he could rip me apart with his eyes. Broke my nose, knocked out one of my teeth and warned me if I ever came near Rose again, and I never did forget this- that he would be the storm that took out my entire family tree."

Jack's eyes shot upward and gave Mickey a meaningful look. Mickey smiled as realization dawned on him.

"And now," continued Jimmy, "I see that same lunatic is all smiles and hand holding with Rose. I thought he was a pull of Jackie's or something like that, but obviously not."

Mickey smiled and shook his head. "You really need to lay off the snow, Jimmy. Rose met him almost two years ago. She didn't even know him when she was with you."

"Yeah," interjected Jack, "You have to be mistaken."

"Bullshit! There's no mistaking those ears! Old enough to be her father, too. Oh well, I knew a slag like her would come down in the world."

Jack stood up and grabbed Jimmy's wrist, using a self defense method that both silenced him and had him paralyzed with pain. "You shut up about both of them, but _especially_ Rose. Those two are the only family I have. I don't know all the details, but I can tell you weren't good enough to ever _hope_ for that girl, let alone be with her. Get out of here." He wrenched the man's wrist out of his grip.

Jimmy's eyes were mutinous. "And what if I decide to rearrange your pretty face?"

Jack snorted. "Pack a lunch, buddy." But it wouldn't do to show off his latest party trick. Luckily, Mickey intervened.

"Yeah, otherwise I'll have to tell Rose's doctor that you were breathing her way, Stone."

"I don't know, Mickey. It wouldn't be a fair fight. I think John would be bored toying with a junkie freak who thinks he can fight because he's seen some Jackie Chan movies." Jack was gleefully watching Jimmy turn red as he continued to taunt him. His face hardened as he put on his battle face, even more intimidating in light of recent events. "I think I said to go away."

Mickey started to laugh as Jimmy stalked off. "The Doctor kicked his arse all those years ago, huh?"

"Are you surprised, Mickey? _Anything_ that has to do with Rose being hurt in any way is his berserk button. I've seen him threaten entire planets if they dared to harm a hair on Rose's head."

Mickey looked around and whispered, "What did you call him John for?"

Jack waved him off. "That's just an alias he uses sometimes. Wouldn't do for that clown to hear him called the Doctor. Especially since he's recognized him."

The younger man bent his head down towards the table and made as though to bang his head against it. "Maybe you're right. Maybe I'm not meant to hate him. He went back in time to beat the hell out of a guy, just because he hurt Rose. That and I guess he helped Rose get her stuff back."

* * *

><p>Rose and the Doctor were laughing as they ran for the TARDIS.<p>

"Won't you tell me what the surprise is?"

"Nope," replied the Doctor airily. "It wouldn't be a surprise if I did." He fished his key out of his pocket and unlocked the door.

"What are you gonna do? Blindfold me and lead me to it?

"Might do. Sounds about right for a surprise."

Rose pouted, but it wasn't really serious. "But am I gonna have to hang mistletoe all over the console room just to get a proper kiss now that we don't have Mum or Mickey or Jack hanging about anymore?"

"Nah. Too domestic."

"Am I gonna have to go the 'Captain Envy' route and come to you wearing nothing but Jack's trench and a smile?"

The Doctor nearly growled at that imagery and made a grab for Rose.

Rose started giggling. "Works every time. I could tell you about the Captain Jack knickers I saw in a naughty lingerie store in the 45th century." She twined her arms around his neck and beamed at him. If he didn't have his arms around her, she was certain he would be standing there with his arms folded indignantly in his usual put-upon pose.

"It's bad enough there's actually a T-shirt floating about, but now you're telling me there's knickers, too?"

Lightly shoving him backwards onto the jump seat, she continued to tease him. "Don't think you blokes are safe. They make pants too, you know." Rose mused for a moment, making a face. "Although, I think I like the idea of you wearing Jack on your bum about as well as you like the idea of me doing it. He is a bit flexible, and fancies us both just a bit."

The Doctor rolled his eyes with a shudder. "I can't believe we're alone for the first time since this morning and we're talking about Captain Jack underwear."

"So now it's just you and me?"

"Yep."

"Good." Then Rose climbed in his lap, and locked her arms around his neck. "I always did want to snog you on this seat."

"Well, then best not witter on all night," was his only reply as he bent his head towards hers.


	19. White Christmas

**Fluff abounds here. **

"Kinky. First you make me get ready for bed, even if I am wearing this super-fluffy dressing gown, and now you're leading me down a dark hallway to a strange place."

"Hush, you cheeky girl. It was your idea, anyway," the Doctor said, as he led a blindfolded Rose down the TARDIS corridor.

Eventually he brought them into a room and Rose was assaulted by a blast of cold air. "Oi! It's freezing in here!"

"Ten out of ten for observation. Besides, if it weren't freezing in here, it couldn't be doing this," and the Doctor removed her blindfold with a flourish.

Rose gasped in delight as she took in her surroundings. It was an enormous room that the TARDIS had terraformed into something that looked like a gorgeous painting. She could smell the pine trees and the gorgeous snow was just starting to come down. Being a Londoner, it rarely snowed. That was one of the reasons she was so excited initially about the first Christmas they spent together, in Cardiff. Her Doctor was always a romantic, try to hide it though he may. Even though they didn't hit his intended location, his initial intention was to spend Christmas Eve in Naples together. But when they had first landed in Cardiff, she was delighted to see snow on the ground because it hardly ever snowed in London at Christmas.

She looked back at him with a blinding smile and threw herself in his arms.

"I take it that means you like it," he asked as he eagerly returned her embrace.

"I love it, Doctor. It's so beautiful, I just can't begin to tell you. And that hill over there- looks like you could slide down it."

The Doctor was thrilled that Rose was so happy with his gesture. "Well, by tomorrow morning, I suppose we'll have enough snow to pummel Harkness with snowballs. At least that's my idea of fun. Oh, and if you want to slide and have a good time, there'll be plenty for that as well."

"But that's not all, Rose. We're going to spend the night here." The Doctor turned Rose towards a corner out of her direct line of sight. It was a large bedroom with glass walls. "We can watch the snow come down until you fall asleep in my arms and tomorrow morning, you can wake up to snow on the ground."

"Now I'm so excited I can't even think about sleeping, Doctor. I love to just watch the snow come down. On the occasions it has happened, I just throw open the blinds and watch." Rose was practically bouncing on her feet with glee.

"Better for me. Good thing I love to read and watch you sleep."

"You like watching me sleep?"

"Of course. I get to see you as the rest of the universe generally doesn't. It's an incredibly intimate thing, you see. Your hair clean and sweet-smelling, with no styling products. And your face at its most beautiful, without all the usual makeup. Rose Tyler, as she really is, without her usual armor."

"You're a fine one to talk about armor," snorted Rose. "It doesn't matter how hot it is, you're always in that leather jacket."

"Well, part of that comes with being a touch telepath. If people are touching me inadvertently, that's wearing on my shields."

Rose looked puzzled at this admission. "But you touch me all the time. You always have. And now I'm starting to shiver in here. Even with the warmer dressing gown and all."

"Then, I think we should head in there," he suggested, holding his hand out to her. "We can watch the snow come down and I bet there's hot chocolate in there."

"Hot chocolate? Now you're talking, Time Lord," she teased, as she allowed the Doctor to pull her towards the bedroom.

A short while later, they were comfortably pillowed on cushions in the floor. The Doctor leaned against the wall while Rose leaned her cheek against his chest, smiling as she watched the snow come down.

"I really think this is the best Christmas present I've ever been given, Doctor. It's just beautiful. I know that it seems a bit silly in the face of wonders like Woman Wept, but-"

He laid a finger over her lips to silence her. "Why would you say it's silly? It's not silly for you to wish to be with your family at Christmas. That's part of your culture. I'd be a right hypocrite if I were constantly telling you to adjust to and respect the cultures of other civilizations and not treat perfectly lovely customs such as a desire for snow on Christmas with the same kind of respect."

"Still comfortable?"

"Absolutely! Are you getting sleepy?"

"No," Rose shook her head. "Just want to make sure you're comfortable here like this."

The Doctor ran his fingers through Rose's hair, tenderly brushing back stray tendrils back from her face. He tilted her face up to look at him, his eyes full of tenderness and longing. His voice was just above a whisper. "How long are you going to stay with me?"

Her answer was unhesitant. "Forever. Every moment I have to give, Doctor."

"I want you to spend the rest of your life with me, Rose. I'm committed to you, and everything this crazy old Time Lord can possibly give you as a man. It will never be what you deserve, but I don't ever want you to leave me."

"You daft man, you'll never get it. I told my mum and Mickey after you sent me home. It's not the traveling, it's not all the places you take me. It's you, Doctor. Always you. I believe in you, and regardless of what you think, I believe you're a good man." This time it was Rose who laid a finger over the Doctor's lips, because she knew he would argue her point.

"Ah, Rose," said the Doctor, clearing his throat, "I have something else I wanted to give you."

Rose's eyes widened, "Other than a white Christmas?"

The Doctor pulled a small velvet pouch out of the pocket of his dressing gown and removed a bracelet. It was a beautiful alien metal. It was made of silky, seemingly delicate strands of metal in two different colors. The yellow metal resembled gold, but the soft blue metal had nothing on Earth to which to compare it. The different colors were intertwined, almost like a twisted rope, and the finishing touch was an intricate round clasp in the blue metal that Rose recognized as the Doctor's circular native language.

His voice was soft and more vulnerable than Rose had ever heard it as he described the bracelet and its meaning. "Don't let the delicate appearance or the silken feel of the strands fool you. I suppose it's similar to platinum on Earth in terms of durability. The intertwined colors, of course, represent our timelines. Millennia ago, Rose, this was a symbol of commitment between chosen mates on my world. It represents a promise to share each other's lives for all time."

Rose swallowed back the lump in her throat. "And the clasp? What does it mean?"

"I have always thought of you as the sunlight to my darkness, Rose. The beacon of light that continues to guide my hearts towards a better path. With each passing day, I feel a little closer to being the man I was before the war. Once again, I feel worthy of my name, which has always been a promise of what I would do and how I would act. In Gallifreyan, it really means that you are the guide of my hearts, the bringer of light into my darkness. In your language, Rose Tyler, it's a token of my devotion to you."

Tears streamed down Rose's cheeks as the Doctor gently picked up her left wrist and put the bracelet on. She looked up at him, watery eyes filled with devotion. Her voice was barely a whisper. "I love you."

The Doctor looked at her in what Rose could only term as awe. He buried his face in her hair and tightened his arms around her. They sat there for a long time, watching the winter wonderland that he had asked his TARDIS to create for his Rose.


	20. Dreams and Realizations

**TiaKisu**: Mickey has some other pretty awesome moments coming up. I have some plans for him going forward. I modified one of my favorite Mickey moments from the entire series in an upcoming chapter that makes sense for him, now that he's faced reality.

**BlueStoneShiningWolf**: I waffled over what kind of jewelry to use- a ring being out as an option. I wanted it to be something that you couldn't buy here, and have what might be considered in one's head canon as Gallifreyan origins. The snow was a bit of myself. It's true- it doesn't snow that much in London. I also live in a place where it rarely snows. I'm a middle aged woman and I've seen precisely one actual White Christmas in my lifetime. I threw open my blinds so I could see it happen. If you remember The Christmas Invasion, they went outside because they were excited over the prospect of snow, only for it to turn out to be ash.

**Yes, I'm a tease. Sue me.**

This was one of those nights where he laid at Rose's side and contentedly watched her sleep. This was as close to domestic as it ever got for him, making Rose happy. It had been his reason for living almost from the moment he regenerated and was horrified to realize he had survived the Time War.

She looked so beautiful sleeping at his side, her right hand tucked under the pillow, and then there was her left hand resting on top. He smiled with pride as he looked at the bracelet he had placed there just a few short hours before. She had snuggled in his arms as they watched the snow come down, part of his gift to her courtesy of the TARDIS. He had heard her bemoan the lack of snow in London, especially at Christmas. Further research on his part revealed that snow at Christmas came with a frequency of 6%. The way her face lit up with happiness made his hearts leap with joy, especially when she realized he pulled out all the stops.

The Doctor was jolted from his reverie by a voice raised in terror. Rose was having a nightmare, of course. It had to have been because he had sent her home from the Gamestation. Her cries were desperate.

_"You can't do this to me! You can't!"_ She sobbed brokenly. _"Take me back! Take me back!"_

He couldn't let her suffer any longer. It was also the Doctor's first glimpse of how Rose really felt after he sent her away. He gently shook her. "Rose!"

_"You can't do this to me! I won't let you!"_

He shook her a little harder. "Rose! Wake up!"

Finally, she came awake with a jerk. "Doctor?"

"Yes. I'm here, Rose."

She ran her hands along both sides of his face. "You're really here."

"Yes." He smiled affectionately at her as he trailed a long finger a long finger down the side of her face.

Rose threw her arms around him and pressed her body close to his. "You had sent me away," she wept. "I wasn't ever going to see you again." She brought her hands around to his chest and slowly slid her palms upward. She began to kiss him softly, in between desperate words. "Don't. Ever. Do. That. Again." Then she yelped, stunned as the Doctor abruptly rolled her underneath him, hushing her pleas as his mouth met hers in a ferocity she had never experienced from him before.

Before she could lock her arms around his neck, the Doctor took both of Rose's hands and intertwined them with his own, and brought them up over her head, pinning her to the bed. The Doctor's eyes blazed an almost electric blue with fierce, possessive desire. He continued his insistent assault on her mouth, his tongue stroking hers until he started to nip at her lower lip.

Her mouth temporarily freed, Rose started to gasp in pleasure, moaning as his lips trailed along her jawline down to her neck. To her surprise, he stopped and then stared up at her, as though bewildered by what he had done. Then he buried his face in her neck again before he looked at her in horrified realization and scrambled away from her.

"What is it, Doctor?"

"Infirmary. Now."

* * *

><p>"This is <em>not<em> what I had in mind when I thought about us playing 'doctor'." Rose's face was bright red as she sat on the exam bed in the infirmary.

The Time Lord rolled his eyes at the innuendo. "Just answer the question, Rose."

"Oi! Do you always get so personal with your female companions?"

"Oh, Rose! You're not my companion anymore! We live together and sleep in the same bed. You're going to get evasive about such a thing, especially when we're in a relationship?"

"Since just before Cardiff," she sighed. "I don't know what the big deal is."

The Doctor stood there with his arms folded across his chest. "The big deal is that I could have sorted this for you and you never said."

Rose ran her hands through her hair in embarrassment and frustration. "What was I supposed to say, Doctor? 'Oh, you managed to jiggery-pokery me a superphone, now give my birth control a futuristic top-up?'"

"Since you asked, yes."

"I didn't want you thinking I needed any," she mumbled. "Haven't slept with anyone since before Henrik's, you know. Why don't you tell me what the big deal is, Doctor? You want me to talk about my cycles and ovulation, but you won't tell me why you freaked out?"

"I'm not human, Rose. I already think of you as mine but our relationship is still unconsummated. I have a superior sense of smell and I've wanted you all day. Then I realized that you're ovulating- something you haven't done since we started to share a bed. All day, it's been engaging my own hormonal response. My mind already knows we're going to be together and my body was responding in kind. I nearly lost all control- at least now I know why I've been going half-mad with wanting you today!"

Rose caught her breath and flushed at the Doctor's admission. "It's not like you help matters, Doctor, what with your leaning against walls and door frames and eye-shagging looking all gorgeous and broody."

"Eye-shagging? You humans are the funniest creatures, finding sexual arousal when I'm not even trying-"

"And that's the most bloody infuriating thing of all," thundered Rose. "You don't even know you're doing it. Most of the time, anyway. What would happen if we were, you know...intimate now?"

The Doctor blushed. "Because we're not bonded yet, my response to you would be more aggressive. I don't want that. Not that I'd really hurt you but I'd rather be in control and not take any chances. The elevated hormones as a result of your ovulation would eventually cause a response in mine and I'd not be able to level them out mentally. Most of all, I'd certainly get you pregnant, Rose. I'm the last of my species. This incarnation came with all parts working for reproductive purposes because of that."

"Oh. Well, no. Not that. All that going on about not wanting you to regenerate only for it to happen at the hands of my mum because-"

"Not funny, Rose." He positively glowered as he looked away from her.

Rose covered her mouth to hide her giggle. "Are we really compatible that way?"

"You lot are compatible with too many- I told you what happens once you do discover real space travel," he snorted. "Are you going to let me sort this, or are you going to insist on pills?"

"What's the advantages?"

"Everything," replied the Doctor with a grin. "No pills, works for a year, no ovulation, no menstruation, and far better than anything that can be found in your time."

"Well, I rather like the idea of not worrying about all that, especially when we wind up hopping for our lives. It's not going to make me gain weight, like the quarterly shots?"

"No, and it's better for you in the long term. I wouldn't have thought any less of you if you had brought it up months ago, Rose. There's lots of reasons women take contraceptives, beyond the obvious." He cupped her cheek gently and smiled. "Always come to me, Rose. Besides, you'll eventually need this for the obvious reasons."

It only took a moment, and Rose didn't even feel the needle. To her puzzlement, the Doctor took out another syringe and injected himself.

"What's that for?"

"It's for me, Rose. Unless you want me to tinker under the console for the next few hours, I need to suppress my own natural response to you."

Rose just nodded. She understood his reasoning, and definitely did not want to be pregnant. But part of her was just a bit disappointed because she was going to have a tough time forgetting about that brief moment of rapture when her Doctor responded to her in a way that she had only dreamed of.

It was the middle of the night on Earth, so they headed back to bed. What Rose didn't know was this was not the first time the Doctor had used hormonal suppressants on himself. The other three times had been when his protective and/or possessive instincts had been aroused: 1987, Jack's arrival on the TARDIS, and that horrible episode where she had wound up married to that caveman cretin, Tillun.


	21. As It Should Be

**I said it would all make sense. That being said, the Doctor was fully capable of "dancing" before. But now he has biological urges like Humans do. He has methods of controlling them a bit better, but he is about to reach the end of his rope. The way I see things, the Ninth Doctor needed to fall in love, more than any of the others. He needed a reason to keep living after the Time War, and he found that in Rose Tyler. **

**In my head, the Ninth Doctor was experiencing a bit of a sexual awakening. I gave you my own personal explanation as to why. It's one thing for him to have been around a bit, but he was passionately in love with Rose. More to come on bonding.**

**As for him using hormone suppressants on previous occasions, here is my explanation: There are other things that can trigger his response. (Besides Rose lapsing on her birth control and ovulating). It wasn't rational, but I think he perceived Pete (the father that had been propped up to mythical proportions by Jackie) as a rival to Rose's affections. Between the TARDIS disappearing and being devoured by a Reaper, his control was hanging by a thread when it was over. He knew he was going to have to comfort Rose in the wake of that, and he needed some help. Jack and Tillun are obvious triggers. I think of him as a bit of a throwback in Gallifreyan terms. No more Looms, so he's no longer shooting blanks and the biological imperative has made him more compatible with some races.**

**As for a couple of reviews regarding my view of Ten, most of it was in good fun. It wasn't Tennant's fault at all. I'm eternally grateful to David Tennant because it meant Eccleston's Doctor didn't suffer from character assassination in a second series. **

"I think I like it, Mum. Lot more practical than the longer locks with my traveling and all," Rose said, as she checked out her new, sleeker hairstyle in the mirror.

Jackie looked skeptical. She had stubbornly kept her hair long all these years. "It's your hair. Before long, I'll have to go to a shorter hairstyle because long hair looks ridiculous once your face looks too old to carry it off." Jackie grinned conspiratorially. "Besides, perhaps himself likes it long?"

Rose rolled her eyes. "He's the _last_ person who should have any opinions at all about the length of my hair. As far he's concerned, 'nearly no hair is ready-to-go hair'." She laughed before she looked at her mother in earnest. "Besides, he doesn't own me."

"Oh, _please_. I've seen the looks he's given Mickey. That alien is possessive. Just how many men has he chased off with that glare of his?"

"Yes, he's possessive," Rose admitted. "But he's always been gentle and affectionate towards me, Mum. He just doesn't share, and that doesn't make him any different than most other blokes."

"So, what's it like?"

Rose suddenly had a sick feeling where this was heading. "We are _so_ not having that discussion. It's not like you ever asked me what Mickey was like in bed."

"Not the same thing at all. The Doctor's well...an alien. And it's not as though I want you coming home with an alien grandbaby in tow."

Rose almost expected her mother to point her finger and shake at her. "And with a few exceptions, he looks as Human as we do. Even then, the differences are things you can't see. Like having two hearts. As for any alien grandbabies, the Doctor's already taken care of me. Time travel means I have access to medical advances that are a lot safer and more reliable than the things we have now. The Doctor can heal a third degree burn in minutes in his infirmary."

"Oh, you're having me on, you are," replied a disbelieving Jackie.

"You ought to know better where the Doctor is concerned. I have been to the year 5 Billion, you know. But rest easy, Mum. Don't have to worry about me coming home in a fix. Besides, we haven't gone there yet."

"Now I _know_ you're messing with me. I see the way you look at each other."

"I didn't say we weren't involved, Mum. I think, in his own way, the Doctor's been courting me for a long while. He's taken me to beautiful places, I've seen gorgeous things you wouldn't believe. But he's not Human. He doesn't just jump into bed with a woman like that. He's just not like that."

Before Jackie could respond, the man in question came in. His eyes lit on Rose and she beamed back at him. His eyes swept down her body and back up towards her face. He had never seen her in purple before and the shorter hair was quite becoming. "I like it."

Jack appeared behind the Doctor with a grin. "So do I," he grinned.

The Doctor walked over to Rose and she almost thought it was Christmas Day all over again from the expression on his face. "Like the purple, too," he whispered. "Are you ready to go?" He was brimming with joy and excitement.

"Yeah. Just have to get my stuff."

The Doctor looked around for her bag. "Where is it?"

"On my bed, Doctor."

Jackie sighed sadly. "I can't get you to stay a little longer, can I?" She looked at Rose with pleading eyes as she followed the three travelers out the front door.

Jackie wasn't glaring at the Doctor like she did after Downing Street, but she still wasn't happy. Rose was still choosing the danger, all over again. She matched the Doctor's stride as he walked toward the TARDIS, with Rose's rucksack over his shoulder. "You bring her home for visits, you big plum. And make sure she uses that fancy space phone of hers."

Jackie impulsively threw her arms around the suddenly horrified Time Lord. "You proved yourself to me. Take care of my Rose."

The Doctor softened in the face of her entreaty. "Of course I will."

Mickey looked at Rose wistfully as he joined them to see Rose off. "This is goodbye for now, I guess?"

"Yeah."

"Be happy, Rose."

"Find someone fantastic, Mickey." Rose beamed at her oldest friend, and embraced him.

Mickey nodded quickly in acknowledgment; he didn't want to embarrass himself.

"Captain, you look after Rose, too."

Jack enthusiastically kissed Jackie on the cheek. "Always, Jackie. In fact, that's really the Number One rule on the TARDIS. Protect Rose first. It's been a real pleasure, Jackie. You're not nearly as scary as the Doctor had me believe."

Both Jackie and the Doctor shouted indignantly. "_Oi!_"

Jack shook Mickey's hand warmly before he disappeared in the TARDIS.

At last, the Doctor stood at the doorway of the TARDIS, waiting for Rose to say goodbye to her mother.

"Be careful, sweetheart. I love you."

"Love you, Mum!"

"See you soon, Jackie," reassured the Doctor. Then both of them entered the TARDIS.

Jackie looked at the TARDIS after Rose shut the door. "I'll never stop worrying about her, Mickey."

"Me neither, Jackie. But we know that the Doctor will always take care of her. And you know what? We'll never live to see it, and no one will ever know about it, but you and I, we helped save the entire universe."

Jackie's brow furrowed. "We did?"

"Yeah. You drove up in the truck, and then we helped Rose open up the TARDIS. She went back and destroyed the monsters, stopped them from destroying the entire universe. Saved the Doctor, saved Captain Jack. I'll always love her, but this is the way things are supposed to be." Mickey had a bittersweet smile.

"I suppose," replied Jackie, still a bit unconvinced.

Mickey put an arm around Jackie and squeezed it lightly. A lot had changed since Rose disappeared with the Doctor for that year. He would never marry Rose, but Jackie was his family all the same. "Besides, Jacks- we're watching something few people get to see and less than that know exactly what it is."

"What's that?"

Mickey had to speak over the noise as the engines began the dematerialization sequence. His smile was determined, but oddly optimistic.

"That's the Doctor, in the TARDIS, with Rose Tyler."


	22. Arrival at New Earth

**I just can't rewrite all the Series 2 episodes. Some of them I really hated and I can't bring myself to study them enough to make my own interpretation of how the Ninth Doctor would react. Plus, I have my own story to tell, my own point to make in the end. There will be some rewrites, but I can think of three or four that I'm simply not going to touch. **

* * *

><p>"Now Jack, do you think you can come by these parts without being arrested for public nudity?"<p>

"Don't know. That's a pretty tall order," replied Jack with his dimpled grin.

The Time Lord rolled his eyes in affectionate exasperation with his companion's usual antics. Life was interesting with Jack around, but he was engineering far more jail breaks than he had in the past.

Jack tossed packages towards the Doctor and Rose. "I didn't give you Christmas presents, but you Brits celebrate Boxing Day, right?"

"For the last time," groused the Doctor. "I'm _not_ British."

"Stop your fussing, Doctor," Rose chided. "Do you always sound British? I mean, if you regenerated and turned up with a Welsh accent, would you tell me 'Lots of planets have a Wales!'? Or do you always sound like you're from Manchester?"

"Very funny about the Wales bit, Rose. I suppose I've always sounded like I'm from Great Britain. I rather like this accent. Before, I mostly had a stuffy RP going on. My seventh incarnation had a bit of Scotland, but mind you, that me was rather a smarmy sort. Manipulative and that lot over at UNIT was constantly watching me."

"Just how many 'yous' have there been, Doctor?"

He gestured at himself. "This makes my Ninth form." Uncomfortable with the subject, his voice deepened with authority. "But enough about that."

"Come on, Rose," coaxed Jack. "Open your present from your favorite Captain."

Rose opened her present. "Oh my God," she said, as she pulled out a dark grey t-shirt and started to flush pink. "_Jack!_"

The Doctor was nonplussed as Jack laughed from his position on the ramp in front of the doorway. "What?"

Rose shook out the shirt to display the front of it. In black lettering, it said, "Leather Fetish".

"Jack," growled the Doctor.

Jack was gleefully unapologetic. "I couldn't find anything that mentioned ears!"

"Jack!" Rose was still blushing. It was true. She loved his leather jacket.

"Do I even want to know what you got me," asked the Doctor, rolling his eyes.

"Aw, these sort of things are mostly for the girls, anyway. I think I have parts to get!" Jack bolted fast for the door.

"You know what you lot say about curiosity," he mumbled, as he opened his package. The lines in his forehead deepened as there was a note taped to the tissue paper. "Bananas are good?" He unwrapped the tissue and started to choke. Tossing the gift aside in a fit, he ran down the ramp and threw open the TARDIS door and roared at Jack's retreating back. "You bloody well better run, Harkness!"

He turned around and blushed when he saw Rose doubled over on the grating, with his package in hand.

"Rose!"

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she looked up at the humiliated Time Lord, laughing uncontrollably.

"_Rose!_"

"I like bananas!" She mimicked the Time Lord's Northern accent. Then she started to laugh all over again.

Her laughter was infectious and soon he began to laugh too. "Alright. I suppose it is a bit funny."

"A bit? Your face!"

"Well, what did you expect? Jack bought me pants! And not just any pants!" He looked at them. They were black boxer briefs, alright. But they had a big yellow banana graphic pointing downwards, positioned rather strategically on the side. "What are we going to do with him, Rose?"

"Just love randy Captain Jack for who he is. All we can do, Doctor."

* * *

><p>As they step out of the TARDIS, they are met with a city the likes of which Rose had never seen before. Silver, futuristic buildings made up the skyline, one even vaguely resembling the Empire State Building. Hundreds of personal flying vehicles littered the sky.<p>

Linking hands with the Doctor, she asked, "So, where are we?"

"This is the year Five Billion Twenty-Three, and we're on the planet New Earth, which is located in the Galaxy M87." He pulled her along with him as they started to run towards the river bank.

They sat on the grass, the Doctor with one knee drawn up, and Rose with her back leaning against his chest. His chin rested on her shoulder as they took in the scenery.

Rose inhaled, humming in pleasure. "What's that gorgeous smell?"

"Ah, it's apple grass. Good, yeah?"

"I'll never get tired of this, Doctor. Our life. Still so many things to see. New ground just like this, different skies."

"Fond as I am of Jack, this is one of those moments that is still better with just two, Rose Tyler."

"Yep," she agreed, wrapping one of his long arms around her waist.

"So, the year Five Billion, the Earth gets roasted after the sun expands, and it's all rocks and dust. But there are Humans all over the galaxy. Nostalgia takes over and there's a revival movement."

"The end of the world- a first date story for the ages. Not to mention you saved _me_ from getting roasted."

The Doctor grinned cheekily. "Then a beautiful woman took me out for chips." He turned his head and kissed her on the temple. "But then there's this movement, and they find this place. So similar to Earth- size, air, orbit. The call goes out, and you lot move in!"

"So where are we on New Earth?"

"We're in New New York."

"You can't be serious. Though, I never did understand why the Americans thought something was wrong with the 'old' York."

The Doctor chuckled, genuinely amused. "It is a bit boring. But it's not the first or last time they'll do something like this- London, Chicago, Tokyo."

Little did the Doctor and Rose know they were being watched.

An odd man covered in what appeared to be henna tattoos called out in glee. "Mistress! It's a Human! An actual pure-blood Human!"

"Impossible," exclaimed a cold, snobby voice. "That's the Doctor! Oh, and Rose Tyler, that dirty blonde assassin! After all this time, they're still together?" Cassandra watched the Doctor pull Rose up to her feet and kiss her lightly on the lips before they began walking towards the hospital. "Oh, what's this? They _really are_ together. The freaky little girl and the troublemaking swot. This is beyond coincidence. This is destiny! At last I'll have my revenge against them both!"

They stood in the lobby of the hospital, waiting for the lift. Rose shook her head in astonishment. "Some things I'll never get used to."

"What?"

She gestured to the nurse in the wimple. "They're cats."

"Now, Rose. Don't you think you might look just a bit strange to them? You're all golden, and practically naked to them since you have almost no body hair. Come on." He held out his hand and they stepped into the lift.

"Ward 26," replied the Doctor. He had an impossibly wicked grin on his face.

Rose pinned the Time Lord with a suspicious look. "What is that look about? That smirk-"

"Commence Stage One- disinfection," intoned a computerized voice.

The Doctor doesn't even blink when they're both drenched, but Rose shrieks in shock.

"You knew this was going to happen, Doctor!" Rose was furious.

"Oh, lighten up. Now, mind it's not exactly how I envisioned sharing a shower but..." The Doctor stopped cold, staring at her wet body.

Rose, noticing where his eyes were wandering, pulled her jacket away from her chest. "Oi! No ogling my breasts while I'm mad at you!"

"Could've been worse. You could be in one of those white vests you like so much." He grinned at her as his eyes made their usual trail up and down her body.

"I assure you, my mum isn't the only one who can slap," hollered Rose over the dryer.

Both of them finally emerged, dry and neat. Rose was running her fingers through her hair, smoothing it back towards its original style.

Walking into the ward, the Doctor stared at some of the patients, all of them with various diseases, many of which he knew there were no cures for. He looked intently at Rose. "Don't touch anyone."

Rose shuddered, "Wasn't going to."

"Ah, I think we've found who summoned us, Rose! The Face of Boe!"

Back in the basement, Cassandra was issuing orders. "I don't care what you have to do. Get Rose Tyler and bring her down here, Chip."

"As my mistress wishes," Chip replied, hurrying off towards the lift.

* * *

><p><strong>If you're curious about the inspiration for the boxers, look up "Ethika Banana Boxer Briefs". <strong>


	23. We Have a Problem

**TiaKisu**: There's a few of the episodes I want to revisit, but not all. I can't imagine rewriting The Idiot's Lantern (though Nine's reaction to The Wire stealing Rose's face would have been something to behold). I am definitely not touching Fear Her or Love and Monsters. As for the infamous and aforementioned GITF, other fanfic writers have given their take on Nine in the middle of that drama. I found them to be pretty unsatisfying, and if I wrote it, I would probably get to the part where Reinette kisses the Doctor. In my mind, Nine as the soldier would have much faster reflexes than Ten. So before Reinette could even touch my beloved Ninth Doctor, he would have pushed her away and let her know in no uncertain terms that she was not to touch him. With a pointed "The End" at the bottom of the chapter. Okay, maybe that's just a bit of a joke. But I think you get my general drift. I'm definitely rewriting School Reunion with a different take on it. That particular episode didn't reflect well on the two ladies, or the Doctor, for that matter. You might not agree with it because of a review you made on another story. But that will be explained. Gotta love those gifts, right? I love playing with our favorite Captain. His dialog is so much fun to write. But I love writing New Earth because Cassandra's dialog is fun to write, too. Oh, just you wait. Cassandra plans to taunt the Doctor and Rose. But Nine is far more streetwise than Ten. Plus, he knows Rose a bit more intimately.

**BlueStoneShiningWolf**: I love where Mickey got to that point in the series, too. It spoke of finally accepting that Rose's heart would always be with the Doctor. That's where Mickey is now, finally accepting that fact. The moment means so much more because he shares it with Jackie, rather than Jake who doesn't really know who either of them are. Yes, leave it to Jackie to ask. "Anything else he's got two of?" Of course it was going to be Nine and Rose in the lift while he internally judged her the winner of the wet t-shirt contest.

* * *

><p>"<em>Don't wander off, Rose<em>. Can't a girl run to the loo without being warned by an overprotective Time Lord in love?" Rose ran her hands through the forced air dryer and stepped through the ultraviolet sterilization unit.

When the motion detector opened the door, there was a very peculiar man standing outside, pale and tattooed. He was eager in an almost puppy-like fashion when he rushed over to Rose.

"Miss? I'm sorry to disturb you, but there are some strange things going on in this hospital. My mistress wants me to investigate for her."

"Oh, is she a patient here?"

"Mistress has been indisposed for quite sometime."

Without even realizing it, Rose was allowing her compassionate heart to rule the day and she found herself following this strange man, heading right into a barrage balloon of untold proportions.

Chip happily greeted his mistress, having escorted Rose into a filthy basement. "I've brought the Human child, Mistress. She is clean."

Rose's eyes widened. Oh, she was never going to hear the end of it, her endless propensity towards being jeopardy-friendly.

Noticing a metal rod, she grabbed it and shouted, "Don't you come anywhere near me, Cassandra! Why are you even still alive?"

"You mean after you and your boyfriend murdered me, Rose Tyler? Oh _yes_, I had my pets spying on you before you even arrived here. I know _all_ about you and the Doctor. So sweet, in a diabetic sort of way. Or maybe that was my first husband!"

"It was your own fault, Cassandra," spat Rose. "You murdered all those people with your plotting, and all you were interested in was money. You tried to burn me to death just because I wasn't impressed with your claim of being 'the last Human' and called you on it."

"The brain of my mistress survived," Chip beamed. "Oh, and her pretty blue eyes were salvaged from the bin."

"Where did you get the skin, Cassandra? I saw you ripped apart."

"That piece of skin was taken from the front of my body. This piece is from the back," replied Cassandra.

Rose laughed, genuinely amused. "Well, nothing's changed there. Only...don't we now have proof you really are talking out of your-"

"Ask not."

Chip smiled lovingly at Cassandra. "I steal medicine for my lady. Soothe her and stroke her."

"Pardon me while I try not to lose my breakfast, Chip."

"But I'm _so_ alone," wailed Cassandra. "I'm hidden down here... the last Human in existence..."

"Oh God, don't start that barmy rubbish again. We're on New Earth, and there's millions of Humans out there. They evolved, like they should, Cassandra. I have better things to do than debate your irritating xenophobia and I'm not about to moisturize you like Gollum over there." Turning to leave, she finds herself captured and unable to escape a beam of light.

"Activate the psychograft, Chip!"

"Cassandra, what the hell are you doing? Let me go!" Rose was struggling to get free.

"I'm moving on, you brassy little twit. Goodbye, trampoline! Hello, Blondie!"

"Wow," exclaimed Cassandra. "Fingers, arms, legs! I'm actually Human again! Oh, and hair! Let me see!"

Peering in the mirror, it was all she could do not to screech. "Oh my God, I'm a chav!" She threw up her hands in surrender. "Nothing to do for it right now. I better hurry back before big-eared Romeo realizes she's missing. The Doctor is extremely dangerous. I'll just have to distract him." She removes Rose's jacket and unbuttons her top provocatively and takes off towards the lift, Chip scurrying behind her.

The Doctor was feeling very cagey at the moment. He stood there with his arms crossed, willing himself not to pace. Between these diseases being miraculously- _too_ miraculously cured, the strange behavior of the cat-nurses, and Novice Hame's message about the Face of Boe, he was feeling exceedingly uncomfortable. On top of all that, Rose had been gone long enough to visit every loo in the hospital. He was feeling even more protective than usual, nearly frantic after coming so close to losing her. He had turned on his heel to go in search of her when he saw her striding towards him, with a funny little man trailing her.

His face rapidly changed from panic to relief upon seeing her. "Where have you been, Rose?" He gestured towards Chip. "Definitely not your usual type of stray." His eyes flashed and he swallowed hard as he noticed her modified attire. "Come over here and look at this."

Cassandra's face wrinkled in disgust as the Doctor gestured towards a man with red skin.

"I've never seen anything like it, Rose. Marconi's Disease. Should take years to recover. Two days- they've invented a cell washing cascade. Take a look at this one!" He briefly gestured at another patient.

"Pallidome Pancrosis. It should kill you in ten minutes. But not this man."

Still not realizing Rose was possessed, he grabbed her hand and headed out of the ward. He lowered his voice. "There's trouble here, Rose. I can practically smell it. I need to find a terminal, and find out how they're curing all these diseases. It's all wrong, this. If it weren't, then it wouldn't be such a secret." He turned and stared at Rose. "You're certainly quiet. Normally you're brimming with questions."

Cassandra fumed inwardly. This man was infuriatingly clever. She had forgotten to ask Chip about Rose's native accent. Well, she would just have to play the girlfriend. She smiled seductively at the Doctor, eyeing his tall, rangy frame up and down.

The Doctor's breath caught at Rose's eyes staring hungrily at his body. And her top- so much more skin than usual. "_Yes, purple was a great color for her,_" he thought. He needed to shake this off. As he was fond of reminding Jack, "there's a time and a place."

Before he could stop her, Cassandra practically leapt at him, grabbing him by the neck, lightly raking her fingers through the cropped hair on the back of his head while she kissed him. Then she jumped back, looking very satisfied with herself as she sashayed off.

The Time Lord initially looked stunned as he watched her walk away, hips deliberately swaying. Then the storm clouds began to gather in his expression and he reached into his jacket pocket for his mobile and dialed. His face had taken on that frantic expression once again as he waited for Jack to answer.

"Jack. We have a problem. Get back here now, and hurry up!"


	24. The Truth Exposed

**Yes, folks. Nine is a soldier. He's not exactly the same as he was at the beginning of the first series, and Rose has made him a changed man. However, some things stay the same. He's still a soldier with all of a warrior's instincts. He's also very attuned to Rose, and there's my reasoning that he would have a clue a lot faster.**

**Hediru**: I thought that was hysterical. Trust me, Cassandra's not done possessing people, and hilarity will ensue as the result.

**BlueStoneShiningWolf**: We have to have Jack in the mix. It's going to be fantastic.

**TiaKisu**: Nine's fury knows no bounds. I had to get Jack involved, and it also makes sense that he would be called as soon as he figured out something was wrong. Nine's overprotective nature is something that will be revisited again and again over the course of this story. It will be both a benefit and a detriment. As for School Reunion, I think you'll see my point. I also have to bring Mickey back into the mix. I still have plans for him.

* * *

><p>The Doctor's face was anguished as he closed the door on the diseased man. "Sorry," he whispered.<p>

"_Disgusting_," commented Cassandra. "What is wrong with them?"

"Everything. They have every disease in the galaxy, every last one of them."

"Well, what about us? I mean, we're down here with all of this."

The Doctor slightly rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "The air is sterile. Just don't touch them. These people were born sick. Now I know why the Sisters can cure anything. They have their own little Human farm."

"It is for the greater good."

The Doctor whirled around to see Novice Hame standing behind them. Disgusted, he advanced on her. "This..._this_ is what you agreed to when you took your vows? Killing these people you forced into existence for the sole purpose of being sick?"

Novice Hame shook her head. "But they're not _real_ people. They're specially grown. They have no proper existence."

"And that's how you justify it, isn't it? You grow these people and deem them of no proper place in the universe. How many people die each day, Novice Hame? One hundred? Five hundred? A thousand? It never stops, does it? It never, ever stops. Each day, these people die and your _sick_ justification is that you're curing diseases, isn't it?"

"Mankind needed us. They came to this planet with so many illnesses. We couldn't cope. We did try. We tried everything. We tried using clone-meat and bio-cattle, but the results were too slow. So the sisterhood grew its own flesh. That's all they are. Flesh," replied Novice Hame.

The Doctor grew more infuriated and repulsed by the second. "These people are _alive_," he roared. "I don't care how many people you've saved, because the cost is not worth this!" He gestured to all of the doors around them in Intensive Care.

"Just who are you to decide that?"

"You have _no_ idea who I am. I'm the Doctor. This stops here, and _I_ will stop it. The fact of the matter is that what you've done to Rose means I show no mercy in taking all of the Sisterhood down."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You want to take notice that I'm being very calm when I'm speaking to you, Novice Hame. _Very_ calm, because the Human brain is a delicate thing. But if you don't reverse whatever it is you've done to Rose's head, I will personally place you in one of these little rooms with these _people_ that you so callously equate to meat and let their fate be _yours_!"

Novice Hame shrank back in horror. This man was beyond intimidating. "But Doctor, we haven't done anything."

"I'm perfectly _fine_, Doctor," interjected Cassandra.

The Doctor's eyes locked on Novice Hame. "These people are dying, and Rose would care." He suddenly realized that she was telling the truth, that the Sisterhood had done nothing to Rose. He turned his steely gaze on the woman next to him.

"Who _are_ you and what have you done with Rose?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Doctor," Cassandra hedged in that affected tone she was using.

"Just answer the bloody question!"

"Oh, alright, clever-clogs. So much for never being kissed, smartypants." She seductively grabbed the lapels of his leather jacket. "Ladykiller," Cassandra whispered, leaning in towards his face. "I needed this body and your mind to figure out what was going on in this hospital."

"Who are you?" His jaw was clenched in barely restrained fury as he realized that someone had taken residence in Rose's body.

"The last Human!"

"Cassandra? How the hell are you here? Last I checked you exploded all over Platform One." His hands were at his sides, tightly fisted.

"Well, you and your little accomplice here didn't count on my minions returning to help recover my brain, which didn't die. Now I have your precious girl, Doctor," she sneered.

"Well, you're not staying there, Cassandra." There was murder in the Time Lord's eyes. "Give her back to me. _Now_."

"It's been so long since I've had a body I've forgotten what it feels like to be nauseated. The mighty Time Lord, _living the life chavtastic_. You're such a _naughty_ thing, Doctor. See, I have access to her surface thoughts." Cassandra smirked while tapping her temple. "In the lift, your little chit thought she was going to combust just from the way you were looking at her. Tell me, do your eyes _always_ take the scenic route?" Her tone was taunting, and she reveled in torturing the Doctor with her knowledge of his private moments with Rose.

"Just how did you figure it out? That I wasn't your precious little Rose?"

"That part was easy, Cassandra. Rose always asks a lot of questions, she can ferret out trouble as well as I can." He made a face in realization. "She managed to run into you, didn't she? The bad accent, all the technical jargon, all of that would clue me in. But since you seem to know so much, and yet not enough about our personal life, Cassandra- I have my own tricks, and I knew when you kissed me that you weren't _really_ Rose."

"Your little street urchin is such a naughty little thing herself. She's got all sorts of sordid little thoughts about you. Oncoming Smolder?" She snorted derisively. "That's not even my favorite one, but this one really is dirty. I'll have to whisper it."

His face flushed in embarrassment as Cassandra leaned forward and whispered in his ear. "A _**what**-me_ smirk?" The Time Lord practically bellowed in outrage.

"Oh please, I know you heard me with ears like that!"

"I heard," he ground out. "Just stop humiliating her! Those are her private thoughts, Cassandra and-"

"What a twisted little thing you are, Doctor. A man who let me die without blinking, and yet you hold this silly little girl in your arms every night as if she was the only woman ever born."

"Shut it, Cassandra," he snarled. "I want her back; you cannot have Rose's body."

"You don't have a clue, do you, Dumbo? Wake up and smell the perfume," she hissed, removing a small bottle from her cleavage and spraying it in the Doctor's face, smiling as he fell to the floor unconscious.

The Doctor woke up inside one of the chambers, immediately realizing Cassandra's intent. _Where the hell was Jack already?_

Cassandra's smile was malicious as she stared at the Time Lord through the doorway. "Over the years, I've thought of a thousand ways to kill you, Doctor. And now, that's exactly what I've got. One thousand diseases. They pump the patients with a top-up every ten minutes. You've got about, oh...three minutes left. Enjoy!"

"Just let Rose go, Cassandra," he pleaded.

"I will! As soon as I've found someone younger and ugh, less common, then I'll junk her with the waste. Now hushabye! It's _showtime_!"

* * *

><p>Cassandra hadn't banked on the Sisterhood being unswayed and uninterested in satisfying her avarice. That greed was her own worst enemy as all of the Sisterhood's "flesh" began to converge upon the hospital. The Doctor had escaped from the cell, and Chip was trapped. He couldn't go back for him, because he was desperate to keep Rose's body safe.<p>

"You left behind the only being that actually gave a damn about you, Cassandra," the Doctor growled. "Just left him to die as he called out for you!"

"Oh, spare me! He's just a clone thing, he's only got a half life... come on!"

They found themselves at the scene of the crime, and only the fact that Cassandra inhabited Rose's body stopped the Doctor from doing her serious harm as the penny dropped. She had used a psychograft to achieve her twisted goal.

The "grown" Humans were at every door and it was just a matter of time before they forced their way in. Cassandra screamed in panic.

"We're trapped! What are we going to do?"

The Doctor's eyes were almost black with rage. "Well, for starters, you're going to leave that body." His hand nearly shook with fury as he pointed at the psychograft. "That psychograft is banned on every civilized planet! You're compressing Rose to death, Cassandra!"

"But I've got nowhere to go. My original skin's dead."

"Not my problem. You should have been dead centuries ago, but Rose was right. Everything Human about you was chucked out. Stealing someone's body hasn't made you regain any humanity. You deserved what you got on Platform One. You killed the Steward, Jabe, the Moxx of Balhoon, along with others. You tried to burn Rose to a cinder, along with everyone else. In the end, she was the only one who felt any compassion towards you, even after you tried to murder her out of spite." He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at her threateningly.

"Give her back to me, Cassandra. GET. OUT."

"You asked for it, lover boy," chuckled Cassandra, as she began to hurl her consciousness from Rose's body.


	25. Goodness Me, I'm a Man!

Everything was a blur to Rose as she started to come back to herself. "Blimey, my head. Where did she go?"

"Oh, my. This is different," sniggered Cassandra.

"Doctor?" Even as Rose asked, she knew immediately something was wrong. "Cassandra," she spat.

"Goodness me, I'm a man. Yum! And _what_ a man! So many parts!"

She started to make these jerky dance moves with the Doctor's body. "_Oh_.. ah! Two hearts! Oh, _baby_, I'm beating out a samba!"

Rose glared at Cassandra. "Get _out_ of him."

Cassandra ran hands down the Doctor's body, looking at Rose as if her hand had been caught in the cookie jar. "Ooh, he's all lean muscles. Toned calves and thighs! Not a soft place in sight. Oh, this Doctor fellow has gorgeous hands." Grinning crazily, Cassandra turned around and raised the bottom of the Doctor's leather jacket. "And what a fabulous rear bumper!" She wantonly slapped the Doctor's bum before leering at Rose. "I've been in your head, Rose Tyler. You think he's _dead sexy_." Cassandra advanced on Rose, pointing at her, as if to dare her to deny her statement.

"Shut up, Cassandra."

"Oh, you're always looking. You _love_ it. No tan lines, I wonder how he manages that! Ugh, but he seriously needs work. The nose and ears would be the first to go. The cheekbones are promising, though."

Before Rose could respond to Cassandra's taunting, the infected beings burst through the door.

"What do we do? The Doctor? What the hell would he do?"

Rose frantically looked around the room. "That ladder! We've got to get up that ladder."

"Out of my way, Blondie," Cassandra shouted, as she shoved Rose aside to head for the ladder.

They're still being ruthlessly pursued as they climb up the ladder. "Cassandra, for God's sake," Rose begged. "If you get out of the Doctor's body, he can think of something."

"Yap, yap, yap. God, it was tedious inside your head. A veritable Hormone City."

Rose began to scream as one of the hospital Matrons grabs her.

"All of our good work. All of that healing," she hissed. "You have destroyed the good name of the Sisterhood." One of the diseased touched the furious nurse and she fell screaming to her death as disease instantly overwhelmed her.

"What do we do," cried Cassandra. "The lift doors are sealed!"

Rose shook her head in annoyance. "Use the sonic screwdriver!"

Cassandra procured the sonic screwdriver and fumbled with it for a minute. "I don't know how, your stupid Doctor's hidden away all his thoughts."

"Cassandra, go back into me. The Doctor can open it. Hurry up and _do it_!"

"Hold on tight," she warned as she hurled herself out of the Time Lord's body and back into Rose's. "Ugh, back to brass! Open the lift!"

The Doctor's furious eyes narrowed. "_Not_ until you get out of her."

Finally, Cassandra gives in and goes into one of the diseased patients. "Oh sweet Lord, I look disgusting." She watches the Doctor pull Rose up into his arms in the lift after he opens the doors.

"Missed you, Rose," he whispered, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Oh no, you don't," cried Cassandra and she hurled herself back into Rose's body before the lift could close, sending Rose back to the floor.

"Dammit, Cassandra! That is your last warning! There is _no_ happy ending for you, and the sooner you get that through your -". The Doctor's angry tirade was interrupted by his mobile.

"Jack! Where the hell have you been? Rose has been possessed by a lunatic we ran into last year. She has a psychograft."

Jack's voice was shocked on the other end of the line. "Surely not, Doctor. Those are banned-"

"This woman is insane, Jack. She has a long-standing grudge against Rose and me."

"Grudge is a nicer term I'd use in this case, Doctor," snarked Cassandra.

"Button it right now, Cassandra!"

"Doctor, I'm down in the lobby. I got here just before they locked down the entire hospital. The lift isn't working, so what do you want me to do?"

"Just wait down there, Jack. And don't touch any of the infected if you run into them."

Jack's voice grew quiet, sober. "You know that doesn't matter, Doctor. Already got to figure it out for myself. I'm the only non-infected person down here."

* * *

><p>It was a wild trip down to the lobby. They arrived back at Ward 26 and realized that the hospital administrator was trying to break the quarantine.<p>

The Doctor found himself frankly disgusted that this person would turn every disease in the galaxy on a city of ten million people. "So I have to stop all of you. Alright! I need intravenous solutions for every single disease. Hurry up!"

Having been a bit shaken by her brief foray in the body of one of the diseased women, Cassandra helped the Doctor strap all of the solutions to his body. She watched as the Doctor opened the lift with his sonic screwdriver.

"What are you doing? The lift isn't working!"

"Nah, it's just not moving." The Doctor backed up and made a running jump and latched himself around the chain. "Now, just a little jiggery-pokery on the winch and we'll be all set. Come on!"

Realizing that he meant for her to jump on his back, Cassandra shook her head violently. "Not in a million years."

"I have to keep Rose safe. What choice do you have? Besides, look behind you."

Realizing the truth of the Doctor's statement, Cassandra looked behind her, seeing that the diseased people were approaching. "I'm so going to regret this." Then she made a running leap for the Doctor's back. "I'll say this for her, she's in good shape," she observed as she held on.

"We do a lot of running, Rose and me."

"You're absolutely mad. Both of you. I can see why she loves you so much."

"Just shut it and hold on tight. Going down!"

Cassandra screamed as they careened down the shaft at breakneck speed.


	26. Appointments Kept

**DuShuZhi**: That's because the Ninth Doctor _has_ such a fabulous rear bumper!

**BlueStoneShiningWolf**: No, Nine is having none of it. He doesn't waste a lot of time rambling on, either. He's a man of action. Yes, Jack is immortal. I didn't want anyone to forget that. But it's just something that hovers in the background. It's too new for it to really affect him mentally.

* * *

><p>As the Doctor prepared the cures in the disinfectant tank above the lift, Cassandra watched him curiously.<p>

"Alright, we've got it all mixed up. Now, Cassandra, when I tell you to, hold onto that lever with everything you've got!"

"What are you going to do? Kill them?"

"Nah, that's your first solution to everything," replied the Doctor, rolling his eyes in disgust.

"But you can't open those doors!"

"Sure I can." He hopped down into the lift and pointed his sonic screwdriver at the control panel. "Here I am, this is me, opening the lift." As the door opened, he quickly removed his leather jacket and hurled it out into the lobby. "Hold that lever, Cassandra!"

As the Doctor was drenched in all the intravenous treatments, he grinned at the infected patients trudging towards him. "Come on! I can help! I believe you lot have an appointment!"

"Touch each other, pass it on! It's a cure!" cried the Doctor as the first ones in the elevator were drenched with the solution.

As the people in the lobby were cured, their faces became beautifully smooth, unblemished. Some of them actually smiled for the first time in their existence. "That's beautiful!" The Doctor held a hand out to Cassandra and helped her down into the lift.

"What did you do?" she asked.

"They needed a doctor, they needed a cure, and so I gave them one. It's a new day! A new sub-species. New Humans, Cassandra. Out of the dark, no more tubes, completely alive, and _absolutely fantastic_!" His blue eyes brimmed with effervescent joy as he watched these people make simple contact for the first time.

Jack finally made his way towards the Doctor. "You never cease to amaze me, Doctor." He gestured over at Cassandra. "Is Rose still?"

"Yes," replied the Doctor darkly, joy fading. "Are you alright, Jack?"

"Yeah. It didn't even kill me. My body filtered it out before it could do so. Hurt like a bitch though."

"I'm sorry, Jack."

"Got other fish to fry, Doctor. We gotta get Rose back."

"That we do," he agreed, turning to Cassandra. "Now for you. I told you to leave her."

"But- everything's happy. Everything's fine, can't you just leave me?" Cassandra's eyes darted around the room in desperation.

"Are you _mad_? You have to get out of Rose, Cassandra." Turning to the Doctor, Jack said, "You weren't kidding."

"You've lived long enough, Cassandra. Get out of Rose right now."

"Alright, since you told me to." Then Cassandra hurled herself into Jack.

"Wow! I'm _pretty_! Now this is a fine specimen of male flesh! Great hair and dimples! Not even my original male form was anything like this!"

The Doctor was distracted by Jack's plight because Rose nearly fainted, dizzy from psychic trauma. He made a desperate grab for her. "Rose!"

"Oh, there you are," she mumbled. "That crazy skin flap got into you too."

He brushed her hair back from her face and looked into her eyes. "Trust me?"

"You know I do. Always, Doctor."

"I promise it won't hurt." Then he sank to the floor with her and placed a finger on her temple.

"_Doctor?"_

"_Yes, I'm here._" His voice in her head was gentle, caressing.

"_You're in my head now._"

"_Yes. I can prevent her from hurting you this way. I needed to act quickly in case she got any more bright ideas. You couldn't take any more of that from her._"

The Doctor felt Rose's delighted laughter in his mind and joy surged through him. It had been so long since he had felt anyone's presence in his mind, and even then, nothing had ever felt like this.

"_It feels nice. It's like how you always make me feel, Doctor. Loved and protected. But more than that._"

"_Oh, Rose, that's how I always want you to feel with me. Nothing will ever change how I feel about you._"

"_Doctor, does it help?_"

"_Help what, Rose?_"

"_Like you said in Utah about your people being gone. That it was empty and no one was there._"

This time it was Rose who felt the Doctor's laughter. "_You've always made me feel less alone, but to answer your question, yes. It helps. But this will have to wait. I have erected some barriers to prevent her from possessing you again, and she's in Jack right now._"

The Doctor removed his finger from Rose's temple and helped her over to the seating in the lobby.

Turning back over to Cassandra, he folded his arms and wore an expression of hostile intractability. "I didn't mean for you to go into Jack, Cassandra. No one wants to die. You had a second chance after Platform One, Cassandra, and now you've squandered it."

"I don't want to die!" Her plaintive cry sounded odd coming from Jack's throat.

"I can't help you, Cassandra. I don't _want_ to help you. Even your investigation of the Sisterhood was all a wild stunt in the name of money. You learned nothing. Most of all, you violated Rose. But no more. You can't hurt her now, and I'm telepathic. You can float as atoms on air for all I care, Cassandra. So here's your option. Leave Jack willingly, or I'll force you out with my own mind."

"Won't that kill your handsome friend here?"

"Nope, Jack is special. But it will be a very painful end for you."

At that moment, Chip comes bounding into the lobby. "Mistress! I kept myself safe for you!"

Cassandra's eyes cut slyly over to Chip. "You're alive. And, dare I ask, volunteering?"

"I worship the Mistress!"

The Doctor shook his finger threateningly towards Cassandra. "Don't you dare, Cassandra! You have no right!"

Chip's eyes locked on the Doctor's. "I give her the right! I _welcome_ her!"

Jack suddenly lurches as Cassandra hurtles her consciousness into Chip.

Steadying Jack by the shoulders, the Doctor briefly looked Jack over. "You alright?"

"Yeah. One of these days you two are going to have to tell me the story about this one. See if I can tell which one of you pissed her off more."

"Cassandra, you're not being fair to Chip. He cares about you, and you're hurting him."

"I'm just now realizing that, Doctor. Poor little Chip is only a half-life. And he's been through so much. His heart is racing so. He's failing. I don't think he's going to last. I'm going to die. And, that's actually okay." Jack caught Cassandra as she fell to the ground.

"Not long now. There's no place for me anymore."

Having regained her footing, Rose approached them, placing her hand on the Doctor's arm. Her head tilted slightly as she looked at Cassandra. Then she knelt on the floor next to her.

"Don't touch her, Rose!" cried the Doctor in a panic.

"Not strong enough," replied Cassandra in a ragged voice. The face of her faithful servant was ashen. "You were right, Doctor. Everything has its time."

Rose reached and took Cassandra's hand.

"You're such a peculiar child, Rose Tyler. I tried to kill you, and you still wanted to help me. I hurt and humiliated you, and now you're here again."

"That's Rose's greatest quality, Cassandra," replied the Doctor. He knelt on the floor and placed his arm around Rose's shoulders. "Her compassionate heart, and her capacity to forgive."

Rose lightly ran a hand down the dying woman's cheek. "And no one should have to die alone."

For once, the cynicism and fakery dropped from Cassandra's countenance. "Thank you," she whispered. With that, Lady Cassandra O'Brien Dot Delta Seventeen drew her last breath.

* * *

><p>Their journey finally came full-circle when they arrived back in Ward 26. The Doctor stood smiling at the Face of Boe. "I thought you were supposed to be dying."<p>

"Ah, I had grown tired of the universe. But you have shown me new visions. So with a new outlook, dying can wait. I still have things to accomplish."

"I have heard the legends, you know. That you're millions of years old. Perhaps far older than that."

"Is that what they say?" The Face of Boe lightly chuckled. "Such a thing would be impossible, would it not?"

"In my travels, I have seen few things that are impossible," replied the Doctor. "But I had a feeling you had wanted to tell me something."

"I had originally thought you might be the one it was meant for, Doctor. But having seen you today, I'm not so sure. Many things have changed since Platform One. Your beautiful lady travels with you still and both of you look upon each other with unashamed affection. Your other friend is loyal to you in ways you have only recently discovered. In spite of the legends surrounding you, it is clear to me that you have love and a family. As long as you have those, you always have a home. Until we meet again, Doctor."

The Face of Boe briefly shimmered before he teleported out of the hospital.

* * *

><p><strong>And so we come to the end of New Earth. A different ending, yes. I just can't see Nine humoring Cassandra with a trip to the past just so she can tell herself she's beautiful. It was even out of character for Ten, really. He was supposed to be a "no second chances" kind of man, and yet Cassandra made her own second chance, and look what she did. <strong>

**So I thought it was fitting for things to end for Cassandra as they did. I also thought it was appropriate for Rose to do what she did. She helped her as she couldn't before. Yes, Cassandra died. But she had an understanding, and a moment of peace before she did.**


	27. An Epiphany

**BlueStoneShiningWolf**: Nine didn't have the "god complex" that Ten did. Oh, he thought highly of his intelligence and abilities, but I just couldn't see him proclaiming that he cured them. No, he mixed all the cures already on hand and made sure they got them. I thought the ending was far more fitting where Cassandra is concerned. It fit Rose's character, even after everything that had happened.

* * *

><p>The Doctor had a dark, troubled look as they boarded the TARDIS after leaving the hospital on New Earth. Rose nearly passed out on the jumpseat. She was physically and emotionally exhausted following Cassandra's possession of her. The Doctor wordlessly picked Rose up and headed towards their bedroom, leaving Jack in the console room.<p>

He gently sat Rose on the edge of the bed and set about to undress her so she could sleep more comfortably. When his hands began to unbutton her blouse, Rose looked up at him with wide eyes and stopped his hands.

"Now that I'm so tired I can't even walk straight, you _finally_ decide you want to get me out of my clothes? I never thought I'd say this to you, Doctor. _Not tonight_, I've got a headache."

His blue eyes were gentle as he leaned down and gently kissed her and then laughed, a light sensual chuckle that made Rose wish she weren't so exhausted. "You think this is the first time I've wanted to get you out of your clothes? No, I know you've been through a lot. I was just trying to take care of you, so you could rest more comfortably."

"Oh. Well, I'm feeling a _little_ better. I can see to it myself."

"It's not like I haven't seen all of you, Rose," replied a slightly wounded Time Lord. "Just a few days ago, that."

Rose blushed at the memory of him undressing her once she woke up after she looked into the Time Vortex. His hands had been steady, but his look had been slightly apologetic as he undressed her and then helped her into the bathtub. "Didn't think you looked."

"Didn't think I looked?" The Doctor had to stop himself from falling over laughing. "I had been sharing a bed with you for months. I had finally told you I wanted you, and we miraculously survived the Gamestation. I'm a man, Rose, and certainly not a saint. You really think I didn't peek?"

This time Rose laughed. "I can't say that I wouldn't do the same thing if the roles were reversed. Not to mention you've been eyeing my figure since I opened the door of Mum's flat after I saw your face through the cat flap."

"Might have done," he replied. "I do have to ask a question, though. I don't want you to be embarrassed or anything like that. It's something Cassandra said when she was inside your body."

"Well, depends on what the question is."

Rose turned magenta as he leaned over and whispered in her ear. "Oh my God, she told you about that?"

"She said a lot of stuff, but that was something you had kept private."

Rose covered her face with her hands for a moment and then she looked up at the Doctor, face still fairly burning. "You remember that cheeky little grin you gave me just before you blew up that Chula ambulance? Well, _that_."

The Doctor shook his head in amusement. "You lot find eroticism in so many things. Ah. If it drives you crazy, then maybe I'll have to do it more often." His face softened with concern. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"You already do enough things that drive me crazy enough, you daft man. And if I weren't so tired, I'd make you _stop_ driving me crazy, Doctor. But yeah, I can get ready for bed all on my own."

"Alright," he conceded. "But I'll be back soon. I want to talk to Jack and I'll bring you back something for your head." He reached down, lightly tracing her jawline with his finger. "Plus, I need to hold you, Rose."

"I'll hold you to that," she called as he headed out the door.

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><p>The Doctor stood outside of the library listening to Jack play the piano. Rose had enthusiastically given him a Christmas present- an accompaniment book of famous pieces from musical theater in her era and let him know in no uncertain terms that she wanted to hear him sing more.<p>

His rich tenor rang out into the corridors of the TARDIS and the Doctor was actually glad (albeit secretly) that Rose encouraged Jack's considerable music talents. After all, it was a healthy emotional outlet for Humans, and the Time Lord found his voice quite pleasing to listen to. Even if he did have a tendency to sit there at the piano with his blue eyes twinkling at Rose, as though he were singing _to_ her.

He waited for Jack to finish and then entered the library.

Jack looked up from the piano. "Is Rose alright?"

"Exhausted, with a bit of a headache. But I think she'll be alright. What about you?"

"Eh, don't worry about that. She didn't stay very long, Doctor."

"That's not what I meant, Jack. Think you know it, too."

Jack shook his head. "It was scary. But like I said, I didn't die. It just hurt like hell is all. It flashed through my system and then out before it could kill me."

The Doctor regarded him with sad blue eyes as he sank onto the sofa. "I wish I knew a way I could fix you. Just so you know, I wouldn't have really mucked about in your head like that. I was just calling Cassandra's bluff."

"That's not important right now. You look like a man with something on your mind. What did you do to Rose back at the hospital? Did you link with her?"

"Yeah. Had to act fast so Cassandra couldn't have her again." He stared blankly for a moment before looking at Jack again. He drew a deep breath. "Jack, I don't want to leave you behind. But I have to take Rose somewhere private for a few days. Now I can't...and I _don't want_ to put this off anymore. Rose could have been hurt very badly or worse because of my folly."

"Whoa, Doctor. What are you talking about?"

The Doctor's face was anguished. "I am talking about the fact that had I already bonded with Rose, that lunatic piece of skin wouldn't have been able to mind rape her! If we were bonded, my natural telepathy would be able to erect permanent telepathic barriers and she would be far less vulnerable, even with a psychograft. The only reason I allowed Cassandra to possess my body at all is so I could keep her out of Rose!"

Jack looked at his friend with interest. "So your people telepathically bond with your spouses?"

"In an intimate relationship, yes. It was done in great secrecy and it wasn't discussed. Taboo, I suppose. Not that I cared that much. My people tended to be a stodgy lot."

"So that means that even after surviving Gamestation, you and Rose haven't-"

The Doctor flushed and then glared at Jack. Always back to sex. "I believe I inferred that, didn't I? It's not as simple the first time in my culture, Jack. And while I'm _capable_ of more...simple casual relations, that's not something I'd ever do with Rose. Add to the fact that we're biologically compatible and I needed to get her sorted there before we left 2006, and there you are!"

Jack got up from the piano and took a seat next to the Doctor. "I'm sorry, Doctor. Sometimes I'm too casual about these things in relation to others. That's stupid of me, considering that the two of you have been helplessly in love with each other all this time. And don't try to deny it, either. Everything that happened at Gamestation. The lengths both of you went to in order to save each other."

"I wasn't going to deny it, Jack. It would be like me saying my eyes are brown when everyone can see they're not. But I've had an epiphany. I don't want us to find ourselves in another situation like that unprepared. I used to try to tell myself that not going forward with Rose would help protect her from my enemies, but that's not worked, has it?"

Jack laid a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. "I think we both know why you were doing that."

"There's things I want to work on. We need to work on a way to remotely relocate the TARDIS based on our DNA signatures. There might be times when she's too far away. Maybe even teleportation devices. And above all, we don't want to find ourselves victim to a transmat beam again! One day, Rose might be separated from me and I'd not be able to come for her. I _can't_ let that happen, Jack." The Doctor's eyes were haunted as one scenario after another played over in his mind.

"I love Rose too, Doctor. Not the same way you do, obviously. But she is the most important woman in my life now. I'm with you. Whatever we have to do."

The Doctor looked at Jack fondly. "I know Rose is my primary focus, but this will help protect all of us, including you. I never told you this, but I'm glad we met you."

Jack was all dimples and megawatt smile. "Kinda helps when you're not jealous anymore, right? I can stay behind here for a few days. You need a few days to yourself, especially for what you're talking about. Besides, without me hanging about the TARDIS, you can shag Rose against the console-"

"Jack."

"Alright, alright! I'd say I was kidding but you know I'm not." He waved his arms in surrender. "I'll get my things together. Both of you deserve this."


	28. Thoughts and Explanations

**Make sure and read Chapter 27. For whatever reason, it didn't get moved to the top of the queue when I updated yesterday. This chapter contains more information about bonding and such. Just as episodes inspire some of the dialog between characters, Nine's inner thoughts were inspired by CE and RTD.**

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><p>She was trying to kill him. That had to be it. She always wore a cotton vest top or even a t-shirt with pajama pants. After all, they had started out as literal bedfellows while they were still claiming not to be a couple. That was the biggest farce of all. They had always been a couple, from the time he extended his hand to her as they ran across London Bridge.<p>

Tonight she had decided her sleep attire should not be so modest. She was wearing flimsy satin sleep shorts and a matching cami, light blue. So when he slipped into bed next to her and pulled her back towards his chest, it was much more intimate. It was only a fine delineation between the satin of her sleepwear and the satin of her skin.

"Mmmm," she murmured. "Nice."

He kissed her on her shoulder, then buried his face in her hair. "Are you alright? How's your head?"

Her voice was still barely above a mumble. "Better. Stay with me?"

"When do I not?"

"Good point."

"Sleep, Rose. We need a break. Tomorrow I'll take you somewhere really beautiful."

The Doctor laid in bed willing himself not to clutch Rose too tightly, for he wanted her to sleep. Overcome with yet another sense of enormous relief, that they had made it over the mountain of another adventure. It was far past time that the danger was once again something that became the bits in-between.

In spite of the prickly outward nature of this incarnation, his private self was romantic. More so than his eighth one, even. He wanted Rose to know it. Their love story had by no means been a conventional one- it was too mysterious for such a simple label. In some ways, it made no sense to outsiders. At first he had rebelled against the notion that a young Human woman would bring completion to his life. He had never really been in love before. He had had fondness for all of his Human companions, and a few he had loved. A couple had even come close to breaching that barrier. But he had always maintained control over the baser, ancient instincts.

He had come to believe that it was a combination of things that brought him to this- the destruction of Gallifrey, the utter loneliness within, the fact that this body was different from any other. He needed, he _wanted_, and even though his leather jacket partially served as armor; he also had no desire for flamboyance in his appearance. It's almost as if he was born wanting to look like a regular bloke, so he made choices in his attire accordingly. If he had met Rose wearing Joseph's amazing coat, he highly doubted that she would have ever taken him seriously.

Most of all, there was the unstoppable force of Rose Tyler. The beautiful tenderness with which she looked at him when she said, "There's me." She knew it seemed inadequate in the face of the confession he had made to her on that busy London street, but the fact that she had uttered it had made a claim on his hearts ever since. He had been a right sod that day. But even that- taking her to see her planet burn- was his unconscious response to Rose. He had had only one goal in making her witness such a thing. It was an action that merely said, "_I want you to have an understanding of me._" It was an urge that he had never had with any other companion.

Each day spent with her had been a maelstrom of experiences- running, healing, learning, fighting, laughing, discovering, and they had done all of it together. Both of them were lonely in different ways, and for entirely different reasons, and together they completed a perfect circle.

Without so much as a shift of position, he drifted off to sleep, content with the decisions he was making for the future. He would speak to Jack in the morning, and give him a new list of supplies and instructions before departing with Rose.

* * *

><p>"Jack's staying behind for a few days while you and I spend some time alone together." He said it as if Jack just disappeared for a few days at a time on a regular basis. He would spend the night somewhere else while they were on different planets, but he would always be back by morning.<p>

"Alone? What are we going to do with time alone?"

"As if you don't know, Rose Tyler." He nuzzled her neck and spoke in her ear in a low, husky voice. "We're going somewhere beautiful and absolutely secluded, and we're going to make things permanent." He drew back and seared her with a penetrating stare that made her feel like he was slowly undressing her. "There will be a deep turquoise sky and three beautiful moons, and I'm going to make love to you on silver grass so soft you'll think it's made of velvet."

Rose linked her hands behind his neck and smiled at him, trying to ignore the heat that his words were building within her. "Is that so?"

"Problem?"

"Not at all. Especially if you're going to deliver." Rose chewed on her lower lip for just a moment. "Is there going to be telepathy involved?"

Understanding her concerns immediately, the Doctor held her close. "It won't hurt, I promise," he whispered. "In fact, I can help you with any lingering trauma that Cassandra may have left you with. Once we're bonded, it would take someone far more skilled than Cassandra to violate you again, even with a psychograft."

"Then why was she able to possess you?"

"That's easy. I allowed it to happen. I was attempting to keep her out of you. I could shut my mind down and protect myself. I was trying to protect you."

Rose smiled at him. "Always trying to take care of me."

"And I always will. Any other questions?"

"This bonding part- this is why it's permanent, yeah?"

"I can't have things any other way with you, Rose. My feelings for you are too strong to allow it to be anything else. I wouldn't be able to stop myself from bonding with you the first time we're intimate."

"I'm not scared of the telepathy, Doctor. You said it helps, right? Would you always know how I feel about you? That no one could ever get in the way of that?"

His serious expression turned to a broad smile. "Yes. You would feel that from me, too. It's not the same as mind-reading. If we're physically touching each other, then yes, we could read each other's thoughts, just like we were doing at the hospital. But it would be a constant awareness of each other. And any sort of real separation would be painful."

Rose looked a bit disturbed at this revelation. "Painful?"

"It means I wouldn't be able to leave a planet without you. For me, that's a big sacrifice." He glowered for a moment. "It means I eat shepherd's pie with Jackie Tyler rather than take off for awhile to get boring components that you're not a bit interested in."

"Oi, if we're doing this, you have to be nicer to my mum!"

"I spent two days with her at Christmas and she didn't even slap me for snogging you under the mistletoe. I've made some progress!" He took her left hand in his right one, just as he did the day they met and played idly with the bracelet he had given her. Then he met her eyes with the most naked, unguarded expression Rose had ever seen.

"Rose," he began quietly. "On your world, marriage is just a piece of paper that can be dissolved with another piece of paper. It just shows others the status of your relationship. This is more than that. It would mean more than a marriage."

"And you want that with me?" she asked in wonder.

"I've never asked it of anyone else. That's how important you are." He bent his head towards hers, touching her forehead with his.

"Then there's nothing more to be discussed, Doctor. I love you, and I made my choice a long time ago. I never want to be separated from you. Not for any reason."


	29. So Beautiful

**Thanks to everyone who reads and reviews. Don't hate me!**

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><p>"Don't you <em>dare<em>!" Rose cried, as he moved to take off his leather jacket.

He looked startled, slightly wounded, and then he saw her smile. "What?" he asked, non-plussed.

"Let me. You have no idea how long I've wanted to do this." Then she gently pushed his jacket off his shoulders, sliding the sleeves down his arms, tossing it on the ground next to their feet.

"So that's how it is, then?" asked the Doctor with a grin.

The Doctor promised, and the Doctor delivered. Uninhabited, turquoise sky, silver grass, and the light from three moons made the grass shimmer. He sat down on the ground and held his hand out to Rose for her to join him.

Rose hummed in delight when her hands came into contact with the velvety grass. "You weren't kidding about the grass." She enthusiastically removed her shoes and socks, enthralled with how the silky softness felt on her bare feet. "It feels amazing."

The Doctor's grin was almost boyish in its shyness. He loved looking at everything through her eyes. He decided to join the party and removed his heavy boots and socks, long toes curling into the softness. "I said so, didn't I?"

"It feels like cords of those velvety blankets you can buy back on Earth." She reached for the Doctor's hand. "I love it."

He turned and pinned her with a gaze so intense that it took a moment for Rose to catch her breath. "I love you, Rose Tyler. It took me too long to say it, and I don't tell you so as often as you deserve, but I do."

Rose threw her arms around her Doctor, feelings threatening to overwhelm her. A gentle hand tilted her face up towards his as he began to kiss her. Her lips parted, and her tongue began to trace his upper lip. Both of them began moaning softly when they started to slowly explore each other's mouths. The Doctor broke away for a moment, hands on both sides of Rose's face. "You're trembling."

"So are you, Doctor."

He laughed shakily, "So I am. Usually have to resist what I really want to do where you're concerned."

She shot him a grin, beginning to relax. "I know the feeling. But that's why we're here, yeah? To stop resisting." She laid back and extended her hand out to him, beckoning him to join her.

He stared at her sudden surge of confidence, and the way her golden hair fanned out across the soft silver ground, and once and for all, the Doctor stopped resisting his love and desire for Rose Tyler. He laid down next to her, and bent his head towards hers, sliding his thumb across her lower lip before he began to devour her.

"I want you so much, Rose," he murmured between kisses. "All of you."

"Yes, everything!" she cried, as he brought his fingers to her temple, and began initiating the bonding link.

With that unerring trust she had had in him since nearly the beginning, she laid open her entire self. Many things he already knew about her childhood, her teenage years; but while she hid none of it, it wasn't what she needed the Doctor to see. Rose wanted him to know how much she loved him.

The Doctor was flooded with images of their time together, the things she thought but dared not voice. He was the only man who had ever stared in wonder at her- while she stood before him in that period gown in Cardiff. His face was one of awe, rather than leering at her as though she was only good for one thing. The flash of adoration and relief when he kicked open the door and grabbed her away from the possessed corpse. How he made her feel that day at Downing Street, her joy at being reunited with him at Justicia, the way her heart leapt in her chest when she heard him on the verge of tears in Utah. _"I thought you were dead!"_

She felt needed, especially after he came to her bedroom, seeking respite from the nightmares that had plagued him. Then her relief as he reciprocated the comfort; the nightmares that visited her slumber in the wake of 1987. The Doctor realized for the first time that the tears she wept had been less for her father, but for him. _"That's because I didn't need him, Doctor. But I couldn't stand a life without you in it."_ In spite of the harsh words exchanged, the undercurrent was clear. He was the most important man in her life, and would always be.

She had begun to desire him, and in spite of her goading in the basement of Albion Hospital, she had always seen him as a man first, rather than the powerful alien. She had seen him vulnerable, emotionally unclothed, and had a sense of the demons that never relented. Finally, he saw the most recent events. Her love and pride in him at a fever pitch as he stared down the Dalek fleet and promised to come get her. Her utter heartbreak and desolation as he sent her home in the TARDIS, her steely determination to get him back by any means necessary. The miracle of their survival, their mutual declaration of love, and her promise to stay with him.

Slowly, and carefully as to not overwhelm her untrained mind, the Doctor allowed his feelings to flood into the woman he adored. His happiness at her being thrown into his path again and again. The reason he came back for her- he knew her mind was screaming "yes" even as her lips said "no". He felt immense relief that their first trip didn't send her running back home, and he wouldn't have blamed her if she did. His possessive nature had been ever-present even in the early days of their acquaintance. His pride in her telling Sneed off warred with his secret desire to break his nose for daring to touch her. Even that friendly peck on the cheek she gave Charles Dickens raised his hackles.

He couldn't help loving her. It was part of who this incarnation was- he was born to love Rose Tyler. After Utah, he couldn't stay away. He allowed Rose to see the way he had looked at her when her back was turned. The way he would gaze at her as she slept in his arms. How he couldn't say no to her, even when he should. One by one, obstacles were overcome and they were beginning to cross the threshold into something new. He knew she cared about him deeply, but wasn't sure if she loved him the same way he loved her. Then they were at Gamestation. How dead he felt inside when he thought she had been murdered before his eyes. His relief when Jack came back from the TARDIS and they connected all the dots. His rage at seeing her in the midst of nearly half a million Daleks was barely leashed as he went on a madman's tangent before he made his passionate promise to come for her.

She saw the look on his face as he watched the TARDIS dematerialize as it sent her away and knew his heart was breaking. Then she saw Bad Wolf through his eyes. This...this was the moment he realized that Rose's love for him was as strong as his love for her. She defied everything just to get back to him, determined to save his life. His overwhelmed, gobsmacked expression at that very second of realization- _"I want you safe. My Doctor."_ She loved him, the way he had only dreamed of her loving him.

They began to become nearly lost in each other's emotions as their souls intertwined. Then they both gasped as their eyes flew open and looked at each other- realizing that they would never again be merely separate entities. They were lying on the ground, now facing each other.

"Are you alright?" asked the Doctor. His voice was heavy with emotion.

"Yeah," she reassured him, nodding emphatically. "It's so beautiful. All my life, nothing happened." A single tear escaped and started to slide down her cheek. "Then I met you."

The Doctor chuckled. "Lot more happened than I think either of us bargained for." He tenderly brushed away the tear with his thumb.

"Yeah. But I never really felt like I belonged anywhere until I met you. Like it was like finding the other part of me that had always been missing. Humans can be married for decades, and it will never be like this. I believe in you- the way you feel about me- the way others believe in God, Doctor. Is that what it was like for your race, telepathic bonding?"

"I don't know," he confessed. "I was married once, had children. All through the proper channels, you understand. But it wasn't like this. I wasn't bonded to anyone, not ever." A slow grin spread over his countenance. "You're the first person I ever wanted up here." He tapped the side of his head.

Her palm was unbelievably soft to him as it slid down his cheek. He marveled at how such a gentle touch could ignite such a passionate physical response in him. It reverberated through his mind as well as his body. Rose's own breath hitched as she realized that the bond made her feel what he was feeling.

"Come here," the Doctor whispered.

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><p><strong>Yes, I'm mean. No, this isn't fade-to-black. But I wanted to separate their bonding from sex.<strong>


End file.
